Something Blooming
by AlohaBlackbird
Summary: Sparks flew from the moment they met. My version of Henry & Elizabeth's 'origin story'.
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth Adams had so far not been enjoying her first week of college. Everyone in her dorm seemed to take the whole freedom to do whatever they wanted thing far too seriously. For her, it wasn't anything new. He parents had died when she was 12 and she had been sent to boarding school shortly after. She basically had the freedom to do whatever she wanted since then. She had let loose a lot her final years of boarding school and so by now all the partying and drinking just wasn't as interesting. She wanted to have fun, obviously, but she also didn't want to spend every night drinking until she dropped. Her classes seemed all right so far but what she was really looking forward to was her Thursday night class, it was an upper division theology course entitled 'Women, Gender and Religion' and it actually sounded interesting. Her credits from Houghton Hall had allowed her to sign up for quite a few upper division courses but this one seemed like the most intriguing. She made her way from the library across campus to her class. It was in a small classroom for only about thirty students max and when she walked into the room the chairs were arranged in a circle and there were a couple people already sitting there. She found a seat and waited until the rest of the students steadily filed inside. She watched quietly from her seat and at the same time glanced over her book. A handsome man entered the room, distracting her, and she followed him with her eyes while trying not to look like she was staring. He looked about six foot tall with short hair and beautiful eyes. He looked a few years older than her but that was to be expected, she was probably the only freshman in this class anyway. She tried not to smile to herself when he sat down next to her and she just kept pretending to skim over her text and attempted to look casual. After a minute the professor walked into the classroom, introduced herself, and began the class. Elizabeth liked that aspect of the upper division courses. Most of them didn't have a silly day where you went over the syllabus and introduced yourself; you just got straight to the learning.

The class only met once a week for almost three hours so there was a lot to get through in one night. The professor got into the first chapter and before she posed her first question to the class she pointed to the man sitting next to Elizabeth. "Class, this is Henry McCord. He's your TA for the semester and he's excellent at facilitating conversation so I'm going to be letting him lead most of your discussions."

Elizabeth was a little surprised, so he was more than a junior or senior. His name was Henry and he was a grad student—and her TA. She sighed, that made him completely off limits.

Henry started to speak, he had a lovely voice, something about it was soothing and calm but at the same time full of passion for the subject. She found religion interesting enough but she would be happy to listen to him talk about it for hours on end. He was insightful too. Every time someone spoke or posed a question he seemed to have the perfect response.

At the end of class as everyone was filing out the professor stopped her before she could leave. "Elizabeth Adams, correct?"

She felt herself tense up, feeling a little nervous. She nodded, "Yes."

Professor Maxwell smiled, "I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself since you're a freshman. Everyone else here knows me already as they're upper classmen. I just wanted to let you know that I encourage students to use my office hours. You seem like a smart girl and I don't anticipate you having any problems but I just wanted you to know that my door, and Henry's door for that matter, are always open."

Elizabeth smiled and her body relaxed, "Thank you, I appreciate that." She smiled at professor Maxwell and before she left the classroom she stole a glance at Henry.

To her great pleasure a minute after she started walking down the hall she heard her name being called behind her. She turned around to see Henry, "Elizabeth, sorry I wanted to officially introduce myself. I'm Henry McCord and like Professor Maxwell said, I'm happy to help in any way."

Elizabeth smiled and shook his hand, "It's nice to meet you Henry McCord."

He smiled at her, god he had a beautiful smile, "You too and really, if you have any questions at all please come to my office hours. I'd love to help."

She blushed a little and nodded, "Thank you."

"I should get going. Have a good night."

Elizabeth smiled and she watched him walk away.

Henry walked away from Elizabeth and he hated that he couldn't stop smiling. Elizabeth Adams was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. He sighed to himself; he could not ask her out. She was only 18 and he was a 23-year-old grad student. It wasn't the age though, five years was nothing; it was the fact that he was her TA and he definitely couldn't violate that relationship.

One month passed by quickly and Elizabeth was adjusting easily. It felt right to be at UVA. Not only was she making friends and enjoying her classes but she also felt closer to her parents. They had always spoken about this place with such reverence and she was starting to understand why and she felt connected to them in a way she hadn't before. She could have gone to school anywhere she wanted with her record, but UVA was the right choice for her, she knew it in her soul.

She had gone on a couple dates. They had been fine but had ended up being just friendships and she was okay with that. The only guy here who had really caught her eye anyway was Henry. She sighed, her class with him Thursday night was the highlight of her week and she actually looked forward to tests because of the study sessions he held. She was trying to be cool about her little crush, she prayed that's all it was, because she didn't want to complicate things or, god forbid, make them incredibly awkward if she pursued something and he didn't reciprocate. Lately she was finding it was getting harder and harder to only see him once or twice a week and she decided she was going to go to his office hours. She didn't need help in the class. It was interesting and she was a good student anyway, but any chance to talk to Henry was a good idea in her book.

Henry heard a knock on the door of his office and called out, "Come in", without even looking up. The door opened slowly and he finished what he was doing to focus on whoever was now in his office. His first glance was of long, tan legs that seemed to go on for miles. He quickly averted his gaze upward and couldn't help but smile at the stunning face of Elizabeth Adams.

He almost jumped out of his chair at the sight of her, "Elizabeth, hi, how are you?" He asked, walking around the desk and grabbing his bag out of the chair in front of his desk so she could sit down, not many students used his office hours unless there was a test coming up.

She smiled shyly and sat down, she was feeling a lot of nerves about this, "I'm doing well thanks, how are you?" She asked as she sat down.

"I'm great. Thanks. So what brings you to office hours?" He said, sitting down across from her. He felt like an idiot, he just couldn't stop smiling at her. She looked spectacular in a loose, dangerously short, button up dress with a peter pan collar, a plaid flannel tied around her thin waist, her golden blonde hair in a loose braid and white keds in pristine condition. She leaned down to grab something from her backpack and Henry took that opportunity to take a deep breath. He had to stop ogling her, it was inappropriate. Especially for him because was not the type of guy to be distracted by a woman's looks, though to be fair she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She pulled out her notebook and opened it to a long page of notes, "I was just wondering if you could expand on Augustine and his idea that desire is an obstacle regarding commitment to God."

Henry smiled, he was grateful for the opportunity to get into a theological discussion to distract him, even one about desire.

Elizabeth sat there, listening intently. She didn't really need help; she had just needed an excuse to see Henry. He was just so damn attractive. It was really unfair that he was her TA.

They talked for a while and Elizabeth was shocked to see that it was already getting dark. She didn't want to leave but she knew she had to get back to her dorm. UVA was safe but she still didn't want to be walking alone too late at night.

"Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it." She said as she gathered her things.

Henry smiled; he hated to see her go. As beautiful as she was to look at she was equally as wonderful to talk to. It was really unfair that a woman so brilliant was also so beautiful. He had no idea she was having the exact same thoughts regarding him.

He went to grab his own things and saw that it was dark out as well. He frowned, he didn't know where on campus her dorm was but he knew he didn't want her walking there alone. She grabbed for the door handle and he stopped her, "Wait, I'll walk you to your dorm."

Elizabeth was happy she was facing the door because she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She composed herself quickly and turned around, "No, I'll be fine. You don't have to walk me back."

"Too late, I'm ready. Let's go." Henry said, throwing his arms up in the air indicating there was nothing she could say that would make him leave her side.

She laughed; secretly thrilled he wasn't going to let her have her way about this, "Okay."

Their walk started out silently. It was a beautiful night for October, but since the sun was going down it was getting chilly. Elizabeth stopped for a minute and Henry followed suit. She looked at him apologetically, "Sorry, I just need to put my flannel on, it's a little chilly."

Henry smiled and grabbed her backpack from her as she took it off her shoulder. She smiled, grateful for his kind little gesture and then slid on her flannel.

Henry smiled as she pulled her braid out from under the shirt but managed to flip part of her collar up in the process. He reached forward and flattened it for her and paused for a minute, distracted by the fact that she was even prettier up close.

"Thanks," she practically whispered and they both just stood there for a moment more until Henry backed away and handed her back her backpack.

He needed to distract himself, quickly. "So where are you from?"

Elizabeth too was happy for the distraction, "Middleburg, originally. It's north, kind of around Reston."

Henry nodded; he knew the area even though he didn't think he'd heard the name of the town, "Small town?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, I grew up on a horse farm. What about you?"

Henry smiled, "I grew up in Pittsburgh, so pretty much as far from a horse farm as you can get."

Elizabeth laughed, "So did you go to UVA for undergrad as well?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I got a scholarship and did ROTC."

Elizabeth was surprised that after this much time she didn't know he was in the service, "What branch?"

"Marine Corps Air Wing. I finished my training at Miramar over the summer. I go to up to Quantico once a month for training until I go back to Miramar this summer and then I'll be up for my first deployment. I was just promoted to Lieutenant." Henry said.

Elizabeth smiled, god dammit, the fact that he was a Marine Corps pilot made him so much hotter and he was already the most attractive guy she had ever laid eyes on. "That's wonderful. Congratulations." She was pretty proud of herself for managing a coherent thought at this point.

"How did you end up at UVA?

"My parents' both went here."

"They must be very proud of you." He said smiling at her but his smile immediately fell when he noticed her pursing her lips. "Oh god, I said something wrong…"

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as he tried to backtrack, "No, you said everything right. It's just...they um, they died when I was 12." She didn't know why she was being so forthcoming with him; she normally just brushed off the questions when people asked about her parents. Her only friend at school who even knew about them was her roommate. But she felt comfortable with Henry; somehow she instinctively knew her trust in him wasn't misplaced.

Henry felt so bad for bringing this subject up, he knew even after six years it was probably still difficult to talk about. They were her parents for god's sake. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I didn't intend to bring up such a painful subject."

She shook her head, "Don't apologize, how were you supposed to know? You were just being nice."

She was smiling at him and it was making him feel better, "Yeah, but I'm still sorry."

By this point they were at Elizabeth's dorm and she was honestly a little disappointed. She really wanted to keep talking to Henry. He was so easy to talk to and she felt so comfortable with him. "This is my dorm."

Henry sighed; he was disappointed as well, "Well, thanks for letting me walk you home."

Elizabeth was glad where they were standing was dimly lit and he couldn't see her blush profusely, "Thank you for walking me home and thank you for the help. I'll see you in class on Thursday."

Henry smiled, "Goodnight, Elizabeth."

She turned and walked into her dorm; not knowing whether she wanted to jump up and down because the cutest guy in the world had walked her home or if she wanted to cry because he was her TA and that was as far as it could go with them. She walked into her room and immediately her roommate started chatting about their upcoming persuasive speeches in speech class but she wasn't paying attention, all she could think about was trying to find a way to see Henry before class on Thursday. Three whole days without seeing him seemed like torture.

Little did she know that as Henry had watched her walk away from him and into her dorm room he had been thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

This thing has been sitting on my computer for MONTHS. I keep adding to it and nitpicking but I could never get up the nerve to post it. WELL, I had an extremely stressful week followed by something wonderful happening that gave me sort of boosted confidence. I'm still not 100% sure about the style so let me know what you think works about this and what doesn't.

I have so much crap to do: a speech to finish, e-mails to reply to, stories on here to read, and so much more! Plus I'm leaving on Wednesday for a work trip. Everything is hectic! But I'll try to get chapter 2 up at some point. I may stop avoiding tumblr once I watch tonight's episode (my sister says it was awesome) and maybe it will help me sort out the fic I've been attempting to write about Henry and his feelings and justifications for how he's acting (got a chance to talk to the Marines I love about it and that was incredibly helpful) but maybe I won't need to write it, depending on how tonight's episode goes!

ANYWAY, sorry I'm rambling! I hope you enjoy this! PLEASE let me know what you think?! I'm still a bit self-conscious about this so I need some validation (wink wink) haha. But THANK YOU for reading!

P.S. This is my first story not named after a song! It came from a quote from an underrated novel by one of my favorite authors . Any guesses?!


	2. Chapter 2

On Wednesday afternoon Elizabeth decided to head to the library. She had some reading to do and Norah was being extra chatty and so she escaped her dorm room and went in search of some solitude. She normally studied in the common spaces but when she arrived she decided to head to the stacks. She had heard Maxwell once joke to Henry about how he practically lived down there. She felt a little stalker-y doing that but the desperation to see him outweighed the stalker-y feelings. Plus he might not even be there; either way she still needed to read so at least she had a legitimate reason. Either way, she was able to convince herself she was justified and for now that was enough.

She made her way to the stacks and walked around for a little bit, again telling herself she needed to find the perfect little nook to cozy up in but in reality of course she was just looking for Henry. She walked around a bit and was going to just find a spot because she was beginning to feel really lame when she heard someone call out her name in an audible whisper.

She turned toward the voice and couldn't help but grin at the sight of Henry McCord.

He motioned her toward him. He wasn't sure how well he was hiding how happy he was to see her, or if in fact he was hiding it at all. But he didn't care. Truth be told he had lingered in the library common space thinking maybe she'd be studying there before he retreated to his usual study nook.

Elizabeth walked over, trying her hardest to be casual, "Fancy meeting you down here." She tried not to cringe. Oh god, this was how their encounter was going to go. Awkward Elizabeth was out in full force.

Thank god Henry laughed, "Yeah this is basically my second home. Do you want to sit with me?"

Elizabeth grinned, "Yeah, thanks. I've got a bunch of reading to do and I thought I'd get too distracted in the common room."

Henry moved some of his things out of the way, creating a space for Elizabeth to sit, "Well, you've come to the right place. I rarely see any other life forms in my little corner other than the random mouse running across the floor every once in a while."

Elizabeth laughed at his comment, god she was pretty when she laughed, and the mention of mice didn't send her running. This was a girl he'd love to get to know better.

Elizabeth sat down and settled in with her book and Henry started back on his research. She managed to focus on her book for a little while but she couldn't help but be distracted by Henry. He was just too damn sexy. Why was he so sexy? Oh right, he was brilliant, kind, sweet and then of course there was the little fact that he was absolutely beautiful. She accidentally let out an exasperated sigh and caught Henry's attention. She blushed upon seeing she had distracted him and that made him laugh out loud.

"Sorry!" She whispered, "This is really dry."

Henry grinned, "How about in a half hour we take a break and grab some coffee? I'm struggling with this book, too." He was not struggling with the book. He was struggling to think about anything but how adorable she looked sitting cross legged next to him.

Elizabeth smiled, god how he loved it when she smiled. All he really wanted to do was continue to make sure her smile never faded because it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Thirty minutes could not go by any slower. They both pretty much pretended to study for the whole time, each of them feeling anxiety and excitement about getting coffee together and actually talking.

Elizabeth had timed the whole thing and at exactly thirty minutes she had to pretend to be cool and not jump up from anticipation. Henry wasn't moving so she waited about thirty seconds and then made an obvious show of checking her watch. See, she told herself; you can be cool about this.

But of course she couldn't and she shut her obscenely large textbook a little too hurriedly and shut her index finger in it as it crashed to the floor.

She tried not to curse as the heavy book stung her finger. It didn't hurt really; it was more of a sting mostly from the surprise.

She shook her hand, as if shaking it around would make her finger stop stinging.

She finally looked up and her face turned crimson at the sight of an amused Henry.

He was trying his hardest not to grin like an absolute moron at her but she was just so adorable that he was not succeeding.

"You all right?" He asked, attempting to be somewhat cool.

She chuckled nervously, "Um, yeah, it just stung a little bit." She stopped moving her hand and changed the subject, "Should we get some coffee?"

Henry nodded, "God yes."

They decided to leave their books in the stacks, after all it was pretty deserted and who the heck would want to steal books?"

They walked the short distance to the coffee house on campus and it was incredibly crowded so they decided to walk around for a while before heading back to the library. The fresh air would be good for them.

"So is majoring in political science everything you hoped it would be?"

Elizabeth grinned, "I'm enjoying it, although I've learned most of it before. I do think the level of discussion is better so that's enjoyable. I get to take two upper division courses next semester so I'm looking forward to those."

"Did you come in with credits?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah about 30, my school offered a lot of prep classes."

"You went to high school in Middleburg?"

Elizabeth tried her best to hide her glee at the fact that he remembered where she was from, "Um, no I actually went to boarding school in Connecticut."

"Oh." Henry said simply, the tone of his voice indicating he realized the reason she had gone to boarding school. He was silent for a minute then continued, "Sorry for bringing that up. Again."

Elizabeth smiled at him, "Henry, it's really all right. I don't mind." She really didn't mind, she was comfortable talking about this with Henry and that was a new and strange feeling but a pleasant one all at once.

He studied her face and saw her sincerity, "Did you like boarding school?"

She nodded, "Actually I did. I think it was a good choice for me. When my parents died my aunt and uncle were responsible for us but they lived in Maine and traveled all the time so they sent us to boarding school. I think being at boarding school your good friends become your family because you're with them all the time and that was what I needed. My actual family was a mess and couldn't be there in the way I would have needed them to so having that kind of family at school was nice. Holidays can get a little lonely but other than that most of the time I'm okay. School became home and that worked for me."

Henry was doing his best not to look heartbroken by her words. His family was loud and obnoxious and drove him absolutely insane but he couldn't imagine ever feeling lonely around them. They almost never saw eye to eye but they were always there when he needed them. "Do you feel at home here?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, actually I do. My parents really loved their time here and knowing I was going to the place where they met and experienced so much together is a good feeling. Did you adjust well when you got here?"

Henry chuckled, "I didn't feel like I fit in for my first semester but I got more involved and almost immediately it got better. There's something about this place, all the history...it just made me start to think less about myself and whether or not I was comfortable and more about the amazing ability I had been given to actually do something that mattered, something that could someday help someone else and maybe even change the world."

Elizabeth couldn't stop smiling at him, he was so dreamy it was unbelievable, "You're going to change the world. I know it."

Henry turned toward her, a goofy grin on his face matching hers, "Oh yeah, can you see the future?" He teased.

Elizabeth jokingly smacked him on the arm, "Call it a gut feeling. My gut is rarely wrong."

"What about you, you going to run for office? First female president? We could use a woman in charge."

Elizabeth laughed, "Well, I agree that we need a woman in charge but it's not going to be me. I don't like politics."

Henry stopped walking and turned toward her, "You're a political science major who doesn't like politics?" He was completely confused.

Elizabeth laughed again, "Because I want to change our political system, I want to make it better. I want what I do to be in service to the country and to the people and not influenced by whoever has the deepest pockets. I want to make things better. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it, but I'm definitely not running for office."

Henry adored how idealistic she was; it was completely refreshing, "Well, I for one think you'll do it, however you choose to do it."

"Gut feeling?" Elizabeth teased.

Henry grinned, "Exactly." Only it wasn't a gut feeling, it was a feeling deep in his bones, it was pure and utter faith. He barely knew her but that didn't matter. Something about her made him totally unwavering in his faith and he just hoped he would be there to watch her change the world.

* * *

 **What do you think? Review please? It fuels my soul!** Anyway, this was shortish but chapter 3 will be up sometime tomorrow during my 30+ hours of travel time. Yayyyy(To chapter 3, not to the 30+ hours of travel. I'm currently panic packing. Ugh.)!


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth gripped the pen tightly in her hand, willing herself to keep writing down actual notes as Henry spoke instead of just writing his name over and over again like a silly, smitten school girl. Henry McCord – it was a beautiful name. He was beautiful. It felt a little strange to say that about a boy but she just couldn't help it, it was true. Of course he was hot in the typical sense, but Elizabeth had always felt real beauty was more about the way you acted and less to do with what was on the outside, and despite the fact that Henry was unbelievably sexy, his brilliance, incredible personality and kind heart were what made him beautiful.

The funny part was Henry seemed to be completely unaware of the effect he had on women. There was a reason his study sessions were packed with almost all the women from the class and it wasn't because they were all so desperately interested in theology. Henry, however, didn't seem to notice – or just didn't care – that they were all fawning over him. She desperately wanted to be the exception, to be the one silly schoolgirl he actually took notice of, but she was sure all the girls were hoping the same thing.

Sure she was beautiful, but there were other beautiful girls. Anyway, that wasn't what she wanted Henry to notice about her. She wanted Henry to think to think she was beautiful on the inside, the same way she knew he was beautiful inside. Their little library "dates" were something she looked forward to every week. It has been six weeks and they had fallen into a rhythm, silently studying next to each other for an hour or so and then getting coffee followed by another hour or so of studying and the inevitable argument about how she was fine walking back to her dorm alone and Henry always insisting he walk her anyway. It was an argument she secretly hoped she would never win. It was the same with his office hours; she tried not to go every week because she didn't want to seem like a creep, but they had such an easy rapport her need to be around him was overwhelming. He knew things about her she hadn't even told Norah. Their most recent library date had given her a sliver of hope that he felt something more for her too. She had been late and although they never specified a time to arrive, they always arrived at the same time she had found him there that first time. She had been talking to Will and they had of course gotten in an argument and she had lost track of time. She didn't think she had ever run so fast in her entire life. When she arrived at the library she didn't think she had ever been so happy to see anyone in her entire life, and his face, oh, his face! It was as if he had been watching for her and his face lit up when she came into his line of sight. She hadn't planned on telling him exactly why she was late but for some reason it all spilled out and she spent far too long venting about her frustrating brother and Henry listened. _He had listened_. To _all_ of it. Without interjecting his own opinions or telling her she should give Will a break. She had been embarrassed at first for venting to him but he had quickly quelled her fears, placing his hand on top of hers and telling her he was always there if she needed someone to listen. She was baffled. Henry was the first guy she had ever met who understood that when she talked about her problems she usually wasn't looking for help fixing them, she just wanted someone to listen.

She squeezed her left hand. The hand Henry had touched so gently and innocently. There had been a spark, she hadn't just imagined it. He had apologized and then they both laughed awkwardly and started studying.

She sighed, willing herself to stop thinking about all this. She took a deep breath and her lungs felt tight and heavy, she liked him so much it was becoming physically painful to think about.

Class ended and she gathered her things and walked out in a slight daze. She almost didn't hear her name being called as she walked down the hallway. A hand touched her shoulder and startled her. She looked over and saw Henry. He looked concerned.

"Hi," good, she managed to get out at least one coherent word.

"Elizabeth, are you all right?" He asked, his brow furrowed and concern still evident on his face.

She shook her head and smiled at him, trying to shake off her lingering thoughts, "Yeah, I um, I'm just a little out of it. I must be getting a cold or something."

Without so much as a word Henry's hand was on her forehead and she wasn't 100% sure she was still breathing. His hand felt cool and calming against her forehead, wait, was she actually getting sick? Maybe that's why she was really having trouble focusing. Their eyes met for a minute and she smiled. No, she wasn't getting sick she was just falling for him. _Hard_.

He was pretty sure his heart fluttered at the sight of her beautiful smile and he smiled right back. She was so sweet. He pulled his hand away, aware it had probably been there for longer than it took to measure someone's temperature. "Well, you don't feel warm but you should probably go to the health center just in case and you should stay hydrated. You don't want to catch the flu or something."

Elizabeth smiled, his concern warmed her heart, "I think I'm okay, I'll get some tea before my next class and see how I feel."

"I'll come with you. I have a little time before my next class as well." He asked, hoping she wouldn't turn him down.

She laughed and shot him side eye as they started to walk, "You don't trust me to stay hydrated?"

Henry tried not to laugh, "No, actually I don't, at least not properly hydrated. I've seen you scarf down an entire pot of coffee and an impressive five donuts during a study session. So I want to make sure you get a nice cup of tea before your next class."

Elizabeth was pretty sure her cheeks were crimson. She nodded, "Okay."

They made casual conversation on the way to the coffee house and Henry jumped ahead of Elizabeth in line and before she could protest had ordered her a large tea with lemon and a banana walnut muffin.

Elizabeth tried to protest but Henry shook his head, he wasn't hearing any of it.

She sighed, "Is that even legal, you are my TA you know." She said, only half teasing him.

Henry looked over at her, somewhat unsure of how to respond to her question, "I think we're safe with coffee and a muffin. Friends buy other friends tea when they're sick," he paused, "And we're friends, right?" He wasn't sure if his words had sounded more like a question or a plea. He meant them as the latter but he'd hoped she'd heard them as the former.

Elizabeth pursed her lips, contemplating his question for a moment. She certainly didn't want to be banished to the 'friends only zone' but she of course wanted to be his friend. If she was honest with herself and considered all the things he knew about her that no one else at school knew, he was probably the closest thing she had to a best friend. She smiled at him, "Yeah, we're friends."

Henry grinned, probably a little too much, but he didn't care. He wanted Elizabeth Adams as so much more than his friend, but he was grateful because friendship was a step in the right direction.

They just sort of stared at each other for a minute, both of them unaware the other was thinking how much they would like to be more than friends.

The barista called Henry's name and he grabbed Elizabeth's tea and muffin first and handed them to her and then grabbed his own tea. They walked over to a cozy corner of the café and sat down. Elizabeth opened the lid on her tea and let it cool down just a bit and Henry followed suit. "Thank you for this, I appreciate it." She then broke the muffin in half and held it out, a wordless offer to Henry.

He smiled, "You're more than welcome but that's all for you."

She grinned, "Sharing is caring." Suddenly her cheeks turned red. _Sharing is caring_? Where the hell had that come from?! What was she, 5 years old? Dear god, she was going to personally prove it was possible to embarrass yourself to death.

Henry for one felt his heart race. Did that mean she cared about him? Well, they were friends so she must care about him a little bit. That was probably all she meant. Her face had gotten a little red, maybe she was embarrassed because she had meant it in a more than friends sort of way? His stomach dropped, or maybe she was embarrassed because she was afraid he would interpret it that way. He was just going to brush past this for now; he figured that would be best for all involved. He didn't want to embarrass her or god forbid send her running.

He reached out for the muffin and broke off a smaller piece, "I'll just have a bite. Thank you."

Elizabeth just nodded and quickly changed the subject to talking about class. They chatted for a little while longer until they both had to get to their next classes. They walked out together and then paused as they both had to head in different directions.

"I'll see you at the library tomorrow?" Henry asked.

Elizabeth was somewhat surprised, this was the first time they had ever actually discussed their little library meet-ups. She smiled, "Of course. Thank you again for the tea and muffin."

Henry smiled, "Happy to, have a good rest of the day, Elizabeth." With that he turned to walk away.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and summoned her courage, "Henry?" She paused, giving him a chance to turn back around, "thanks for being my friend."

Henry stood still for a moment and then smiled at her, "Always."

She smiled and turned away before Henry could see her blush. Her whole body was buzzing at their interaction.

Henry himself could not stop smiling as he walked away from her; Elizabeth Adams made him feel braver than he'd ever felt in his life.

Elizabeth headed to class and met up with Norah outside. Norah smiled at her but then her eyes grew wide and she started squealing.

Elizabeth used her free hand to cover one of her ears, "Oh my god what on earth is wrong with you?"

Norah squealed once again and this time Elizabeth just shot her a glare.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, but oh my god Henry bought you coffee?"

Elizabeth frowned, "How the hell did you know that?"

Norah rolled her eyes and pointed to Elizabeth's cup, "His name is on your cup."

Elizabeth turned the cup around in her hand and felt her face turn crimson when she saw Henry's name written there. "We just…we just went to the café after class. It was no big deal. We get coffee all the time when we study." She said, trying to shrug Norah off.

Norah was obviously not buying that, "Yeah, but this is different because he _bought_ you the coffee."

"It's tea." Elizabeth said quietly, not really knowing how else to respond.

Norah rolled her eyes, "Thank you smart ass, because tea changes the _entire_ meaning of the gesture." She said sarcastically.

Elizabeth scrunched up her face, wanting so badly to brush Norah off but the words wouldn't come out. She physically couldn't vocalize them because even pretending that she didn't want something to happen with Henry at this point was just too damn hard. She sighed, "We're friends, we can't be anything more. He's my TA."

Norah's eyes grew wide, "You mean…you're _finally_ admitting you like him?" Norah looked like she was about to explode with excitement.

Elizabeth sighed, "Fine, I like him. But you have to drop this. I can't talk about it, it'll make the whole thing….sad somehow."

Norah frowned, "Sad? How is it sad?"

Elizabeth shook her head, staring at Henry's name on the side of the cup, "Sad because I can't do anything about it and because even if I could why the heck would he like me back? I'm 18 and an undergrad. He's 23 and getting his doctorate. Then on top of that there's the fact that he's absolutely beautiful."

Norah furrowed her brow, concerned at her friend's obvious lack of self-esteem.

"Lizzy, are you serious right now? You're brilliant, hilarious, and you're so gorgeous I hated you the minute I laid eyes on you."

"You hated me?"

Norah laughed, "For like a minute. I walked into our dorm room and was smacked with a view of a leggy blonde hanging up a Fleetwood Mac poster. I was insanely jealous. Then you let me wear that amazing plaid skirt to the first party of freshman year and I immediately changed my mind and will now love you forever."

Elizabeth laughed, "Good to know."

Norah wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders as they walked into class. Tonight, you and I are going to down a bottle of cheap wine and talk about this little situation."

Elizabeth nodded; maybe talking about it would do her some good? "Okay."

* * *

God damn this took forever to upload! My current internet connection is soooo slow! Anyway...thanks for reading and thanks for all the love for chapter 2! Hope you're enjoying this little foray into the past of our favorite fictional couple as much as I'm enjoying writing it! I've still got an assload of travel ahead of me so to be honest chapter 4 could come fairly soon!

 **Review pretty please?** We all need a little validation sometimes!


	4. Chapter 4

After class Norah and Elizabeth grabbed some food before heading back to their dorm room where Norah pulled out a bottle of cheap wine and they sat on the floor of their dorm room drinking terrible moscato out of coffee mugs.

Elizabeth loved this little ritual. It was something they had started back at the beginning of the year when Norah had insisted they get to know one another. Despite the fact that Norah drove her nuts sometimes, she really liked her and was grateful they were roommates and friends.

"So," Norah started, "Henry McCord."

Elizabeth sighed and repeated, "Henry McCord."

"He is… _really_ sexy."

Elizabeth laughed, "Thank you, I didn't notice."

Norah rolled her eyes and whipped a pen at her friend, "Come on, you've been secretly obsessing over this guy since the day you met him and every time I ask you about him you brush me off. Spill. Now."

Elizabeth took another gulp of her wine and got up her nerve. Thinking these things in your head was one thing but saying them out loud was different. Saying them out loud for some reason made them real and when they became real they had the power to ruin her. She had been ruined before and she never wanted to feel that way again. She kept everything she deemed too personal close to her chest, it had seemed easier, for some reason pain was easier to bear when she could use the outside world to act like it didn't exist. Was that healthy? Probably not, but it had gotten her through a lot up to this point.

"Okay," she began, "I like Henry. A lot. I mean, more than I've ever liked anyone in my whole life. When I'm not around him I'm thinking about him or figuring out ways to run into him. I feel so comfortable around him, the way I've never felt with anyone, honestly it scares the hell out of me. I love talking to him; he's so sweet and understanding. At first I tried to convince myself that because he was getting his doctorate in religion that he would be judgy and strict but he's nothing like that at all. He's so rational and aware that religion isn't this veil to hide behind." She paused, about to tell Norah something incredibly private, "I stopped believing in god when I lost my parents and I had never been able to vocalize that before I met Henry. I just kind of let the anger brew inside of me and chose to purge religion from my life because I couldn't deal with all of the people surrounding me using faith as this band-aid. It made me so angry. But Henry…Henry makes me believe, maybe not in God yet but I believe in Henry. I can't put my finger on it, he just understands me in a way I haven't really experienced before."

Norah had a goofy grin on her face and it was making Elizabeth self conscious. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I'm happy that you trust me enough to open up to me like this and because well, I think what you're describing is falling in love."

Elizabeth felt her cheeks turn crimson at Norah's words and she shook her head, "No, I don't know him well enough for that, I just like him. It's a crush and I can't do anything about it so I'm just going to have to get over it."

"In less than two months he won't be your TA anymore. You don't have to get over it, you just have to get through it and when next semester comes around you can stop suppressing your feelings."

"He's 23, he's a grad student, I see the way girls look at him. What makes you think I even have a chance with him?"

Norah stared at her friend, dumbfounded, "Are you serious?"

Elizabeth frowned, obviously she was serious.

"Oh. My. God." Norah said, shaking her head at her friend's lack of self-confidence. She jumped to her feet and walked over to Elizabeth. She reached down for her friend's hand and pulled her up and dragged her over to the mirror behind their door. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Elizabeth frowned, "What?"

Norah turned Elizabeth's face so she was looking at herself in the mirror, "Lizzy, look at yourself and tell me what you see."

Elizabeth studied herself in the mirror for a moment and frowned, all she saw was a tall, lanky girl with her blonde hair in a messy braid, "I...don't know, I just see me. Tall and awkward Elizabeth Adams."

Norah sighed, this was going to be more difficult than she thought, "You know what I see? I see a gorgeous woman. There is nothing about you that's awkward, well physically anyway," Norah teased, eliciting a small laugh from Elizabeth. "I see a girl with a killer body, beautiful crazy blonde hair, a face that belongs in magazines, and the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen in my life. But you know what's really beautiful about you? That all that outer beauty is just magnified by your inner beauty. You are one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I've ever met. You're smarter than everyone in the room but you never talk down to anyone or make them feel stupid. I could go on and on about you because I truly think you're an amazing human being. You are a good person Elizabeth Adams and you deserve someone equally as good. There are a million reasons why Henry McCord should, and probably does, like you. But you have to be confident in who you are because you're never going to be able to let someone else love you if you can't love yourself."

Elizabeth stared at herself in the mirror, she had always known she was pretty but that was such a strange thing to admit out loud, didn't it make her seem conceited? She didn't want that.

"Lizzy, what boy made you think you weren't good enough? Because I'm gonna find that kid and smack him."

Elizabeth managed a smile, Norah had nailed it on the nose as usual. There was no point in skirting around this topic, "My boyfriend back at Houghton, he was nice enough but he had this superiority complex and acted like I was lucky to date him. It didn't phase me at first, in fact I kind of liked that he was so confident. But it became less entertaining and I guess I just started to believe him."

Norah frowned, "How long did you date?"

Elizabeth sighed, "About 6 months, I broke it off a couple months before graduation." She chuckled to herself, "He was pissed that I had the nerve to dump him."

Norah squeezed her friend's shoulder, "Well, I don't even know the guy and I can already tell he wasn't even close to good enough for you."

Elizabeth turned toward her friend and surprised her by throwing her arms around her, "Thank you."

Norah smiled and hugged her back, "Anytime, I know you'd do the same for me."

That same night Henry McCord had dinner with a friend. "Hey, who was that girl you were with at the coffeehouse earlier? I wanted to say hi and make you introduce me but I was already late." Chris said as he chomped down on a burger.

Henry felt himself tense up a bit, "She's a freshman and she's in my theology and gender course."

"She is smoking hot, I mean god, her legs look like they go on for miles."

Henry really needed Chris to move on from this, obviously he agreed but he didn't want to objectify Elizabeth.

"Chris, cut it out." Henry said, trying to be cool but his tone was failing him.

Chris' eyes lit up, "Oh my god, you like her! Is that why you broke it off with Maggie at the beginning of the semester?"

Henry did not want to talk about this, "Of course I like her, she's intelligent and I enjoy talking to her but that's it. She's my student. And she's not the reason I broke up with Maggie, I broke up with Maggie because I wasn't in love with her and I didn't see our relationship going anywhere."

Chris looked skeptical but he knew not to argue with Henry so he just nodded and changed the subject.

Henry was grateful, he didn't want to talk about Elizabeth because he knew if he got into why he liked her he would be opening the flood gates and he was barely holding them shut as is. Of course he had broken up with Maggie because of Elizabeth. One smile from Elizabeth had made him feel more than any other girl ever had. He had broken up with Maggie because he knew it wasn't fair to her, he loved her as a friend but he wasn't in love with her and he would never be in love with her. There was no point in stringing her along.

Henry headed to his office after dinner, he had a paper to finish and knew if he went back to his apartment he'd just end up fielding phone calls from friends who wanted to go party. He walked by Maxwell's office and noticed she was still there. He popped his head in the partly open door, "What are you still doing here?"

She smiled, "I am going into DC tomorrow, Laura bought tickets to that Egypt exhibit at the Smithsonian so I need to get these papers graded. What are you doing here?"

"I need to finish a paper and figured I'd focus better here than at my apartment."

Henry noticed the paper on the top of her stack, "A+? Is that even a legitimate grade?"

Maxwell smiled, "No, but it was just that good. Damn girl is ruining my curve."

"Whose paper is it?"

Maxwell rolled her eyes, "Oh come on! Your star pupil?"

Henry just stared at her in confusion.

"Seriously McCord? Elizabeth Adams."

Henry blushed at the mention of her name and Maxwell grinned, "Are you two dating?"

"What? Of course not!" Henry exclaimed a little too quickly.

"Okay, McCord, sit down. You and I are going to have a talk."

Henry sat down in the chair across from her, figuring he was in for a lecture about not dating students in their course. But she surprised him. She leaned in, "So why aren't you dating her? You obviously like her and she'd have to be blind and stupid not to like you back and I know for a fact she isn't either of those."

Henry just stared at her, his mouth gaping open.

"Come on, McCord. Spill it. I know you're a man and feelings are intimidating but I can give you good advice about this, I mean I'm a girl who likes girls. I have double the knowledge."

Henry laughed, he really liked Maxwell. He liked her inclusive views about faith and he liked that she wasn't afraid to broach tough subjects. He could trust her.

"Okay, so let's say I do like her...she's my student do that's out of the question."

"No it's not, there's no specific rule saying you can't date a student. I mean, it's frowned upon but it's not forbidden. But I do my own grading. You're not in any way in charge of her grades."

Henry's mouth fell open, "Seriously?"

Maxwell rolled her eyes, "No, I'm lying to you. I'm trying to get my most promising religious scholar in all the time I've been teaching expelled. Come on McCord!" She said, throwing her hands in the air in an exasperated gesture.

Henry laughed and thought about what she said. He could date Elizabeth Adams. The thought alone was enough to make his heart beat faster. "It's just...it's not a good idea. She's a freshman and I doubt we want the same things right now."

"Henry McCord, do not make assumptions about what that girl wants without asking her!"

Henry laughed, "I just don't want to scare her or come on too strong. We're friends, maybe that's better for now?"

"Henry, a girl like that isn't going to wait for you. She's got options, none as good as you I'm sure, but even the most beautiful women have insecurities. Just promise me you'll think about it? You deserve to be happy."

Henry nodded, "Okay, I'll think about it." He got up to leave, "Thanks for the advice. Have a good weekend in DC."

"BE HAPPY McCORD!" She called after him, making him laugh all the way to his office. He went in and got situated. She was right, he shouldn't assume anything about what Elizabeth Adams wanted or didn't want. He was going to think about it, tomorrow though because tonight he had a paper to finish.

* * *

Maxwell is based off my advisor/all-time favorite professor from college. We used to have the best talks and she always called me on my shit. We still talk and I adore her.

As always, let me know what you think! It's 12 am here so I'm a little sleepy and I apologize if there are any mistakes!


	5. Chapter 5

Uploaded this from my phone so if you see a mistake let me know, I find it a little difficult to proofread when I'm on my phone! I'm also supposed to be getting ready for dinner but I wanted to get this it there! So please enjoy and tell me what you think!

* * *

On the Monday after Thanksgiving break Henry felt like it was the longest day of his life—and it was only lunchtime. He hadn't seen Elizabeth in a full week and it was becoming physically painful. It had been a few weeks but his conversation with Maxwell still weighed heavily on his mind. He had decided he would ask Elizabeth out but he wanted to wait until the semester was over in case she didn't reciprocate his feelings.

He got a sandwich from the cafeteria, ate with a friend, and headed to his last class of the day in a very good mood. Even though the day was dragging he still managed to be happy because it was Monday and Monday nights meant Elizabeth would come to office hours and he would finally get to see her beautiful face.

On his way out of the cafeteria he saw familiar blonde braids from across the way. He smiled and was about to walk across the way to say hi when he noticed she wasn't alone. She was sitting with a guy. He was talking to her and she was nodding along. She didn't look particularly engaged in the conversation but seeing her with another man made him nauseous. He briskly walked out of the cafeteria and to his office, his brain moving a mile a minute with all kinds of scenarios. What if she was dating this guy? What if he had asked her out and they fell in love and he never got a chance with her?

He shook his head; he was being crazy, going totally overboard. They were just talking for gods sake! He walked into his office and practically slammed the door shut and then fell back against it and sunk down to the floor. He sat there, head in his hands, unable to think about anything but the sharp pain in his chest.

What was this girl doing to him? She was all he had thought about the entire time he had been home. He just wanted to be around her, to hear her laugh, to see her smile, to talk to her about anything and everything. She made his heart flutter like no one ever had before.

He had made up his mind, to hell with waiting until the end of the semester. He was going to ask her out tonight.

Later that night Elizabeth was on her way to Henry's office and for some reason she was feeling nervous. Her Thanksgiving break had of course been terrible. She and Will thought going back to their childhood home would have been fun—and it had started out that way—but of course it ended with her and Will pissing each other off.

It had been a week since she had seen Henry and she missed him. That felt very strange to acknowledge but she couldn't help it, it was true. Her feelings were only amplified this afternoon when Joe Bergman had cornered her at lunch and insisted she eat with him. She had agreed because she didn't want to seem rude but throughout the entire meal she had only been thinking about how she would rather be with Henry.

Joe was nice and cute but he wasn't Henry McCord. Joe spent the whole meal talking to her and asking questions but doing that typical thing boys do where they acted interested but didn't actually listen to anything you said.

She didn't want that, in fact she didn't want anyone who wasn't Henry McCord.

She reached his office and knocked on the door and poked her head inside. Henry looked up from his desk and grinned at her, "Elizabeth, hi!"

He stood up and walked around to greet her. They exchanged an awkward hug and then both sat down.

They made awkward chatter about their respective Thanksgivings, both of them feeling strangely nervous, until finally they started studying and things seemed to go back to normal.

They sometimes put on music when they studied and tonight was one of those nights

Elizabeth was lounging in the chair, her legs draped over the arm of the chair as she leaned back. She looked adorable in a white Henley, loose black overalls, and a green plaid flannel. She had taken her winter boots off and her extra thick socks made even her feet look adorable.

After a while she sighed and put her book down, "Okay, I need a break."

Henry looked up from his own book, "Do you want to grab some coffee?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I'm a little burned out."

Before Henry could respond to that she jumped out of the chair in a blur of excitement, "Oh my god this is one of my favorite songs!" She said as she turned up the radio.

Henry grinned, this was his chance, he had been forcing himself to think about anything else but asking her out all night but this was the perfect opportunity. He got up out of his chair and grabbed her hand, "Come on, dance with me?"

Elizabeth looked confused as he pulled her over to him as the words started, "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long. And wouldn't it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we belong? You know it's gonna make it that much better, when we can say goodnight and stay together."

They danced together, neither one of them taking their eyes off of each other. It was PG rated dancing-not enough room between them for the Holy Ghost, but it felt more intimate than anything either of them had ever done. All the feelings swirling around felt like they were weighing heavily on both of them.

When the song was over Elizabeth pulled away but Henry grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Henry," she pleaded, she couldn't be this close to him and be unable to have him. It was physically painful.

He looked into her eyes, their beautiful Mediterranean blue gleaning back at him and he felt like he could lose himself in their vastness. He smiled at her, "Elizabeth, I'd really like it if you'd let me take you on a date?"

Elizabeth's face went from ecstatic from hearing those words to completely confused. "Yes," she blurted out, unable to control herself. She then shook her head and pulled away from him, "Wait, Henry…I…you…we can't?"

Henry shook his head, "Apparently we can. There's no rule. Plus the semester is almost over. Please Elizabeth, give me a chance."

Elizabeth looked into his eyes and she felt nothing but calm, something about him did that to her, made her feel safe in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. He smiled down at her and she felt tears threatening at her eyes. "Yes," she said, it was barely a whisper, as if she was afraid voicing her desire too loudly would cause her to wake up from this beautiful dream.

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her body and she did the same. She felt so good in his arms, like she belonged in them.

They finally pulled apart and Henry tucked a rogue hair behind her ear, eliciting a rosy blush on her cheeks.

She looked up at him, lips parted as if she was asking him to kiss her. He wanted to, lord did he want to, but he didn't want their first kiss to be in his office. He wanted it to be special, she deserved it to be special.

"Dinner tomorrow?" Henry asked, not at all caring how desperate he sounded.

Elizabeth laughed and cocked an eyebrow, "On a Tuesday?"

Henry pursed his lips, "Okay...we can wait until Friday. I've waited all semester so a few more days will be nothing."

Elizabeth felt her heart skip a beat, _he had waited all semester_. She shook her head, "No, Tuesday is perfect. I don't want to wait any longer."

Henry grinned, he was beyond thrilled she was as eager to go out with him as he was with her. He ran a hand tenderly down her arm and then squeezed her hand, "Dinner tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 6?"

She felt a shiver go up her spine at his touch, "I can't wait." She took a step back, she needed to separate from him for the time being because his close proximity was making her head foggy. "I, um, I should probably head back to my dorm. It's getting late."

Henry nodded, "Of course." He started gathering his things and Elizabeth loved that he had stopped offering to walk her home and instead now just did it.

Their walk back to her dorm started out in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable one, more like just both of them processing what had just occurred.

But the silence went on a little too long and Elizabeth was starting to get nervous.

Henry noticed her tense up a bit and although he wasn't quite sure what to say, he knew what to do. He reached down and grabbed her hand, intertwining their gloved fingers.

Elizabeth blushed and looked down at the ground but she held onto Henry's hand.

When they arrived at her dorm she was disappointed, "This is going to be the longest 24 hours of my life." She joked.

Henry laughed, "Me too."

They just stood there for a moment, both lost in each other and the path they had so suddenly embarked upon.

"Goodnight Elizabeth, sleep well." Henry said as he leaned in and placed a chaste kiss to her cheek.

Elizabeth knew her cheeks were turning crimson but she didn't care. Something about Henry made her brave and she liked it, "Goodnight Henry McCord."

The next day Elizabeth told Norah what had happened, knowing her roommate was going to freak out.

"Oh my god Lizzy I can't believe it!" Norah squealed. "When is your first date? Oh my god I'm so excited for you! We're going to have to pick out the perfect outfit!"

"It's tonight." Elizabeth responded casually.

Norah's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head, "TONIGHT? That gives us no time to prepare." She said, starting to panic.

Elizabeth laughed, "We didn't want to wait until Friday. It will be fine. I had on overalls last night when he asked me out so I don't think he's too concerned about what I wear."

Norah grinned and placed her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, "Oh my sweet, innocent friend. That is adorable but this is your first date. You want it to be memorable and if you say the word overalls to me one more time I will personally burn yours."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and playfully smacked her roommate's hand away before flopping down onto her bed, "I wasn't going to wear them tonight, _obviously_. I was just saying that Henry doesn't really seem to care about how I dress."

Norah walked over to Elizabeth's bed and dragged her friend up and over to the closet. "Come on Cinderella, it's not like you're going to the ball. You always look cute, just try a _little_ harder tonight.

Elizabeth sighed, "Okay, I can do that." She playfully shoved Norah away, "but you have to stay sitting on your bed. I get to pick out what I wear and I will take your suggestions but I am the final decision maker. Got it?"

Norah held up her hands in a gesture of surrender as she moved backwards to sit on her bed, "Deal."

Elizabeth started tearing through her closet, suddenly her calm was gone and she was beginning to freak out. She held up a pair of black skinny jeans and looked them over.

"Wear a skirt or a dress." Norah called over from her perch on her bed.

Elizabeth frowned, "But it's kind of cold."

Norah rolled her eyes, "But you have killer legs. Some days I can't decide if I'm just jealous of them or if I'm actually attracted to you because I just want to stare at them."

Elizabeth laughed, "You're a crazy person."

Norah shrugged, "That may be, but I'm also right. Wear one of those cute little dresses you always wear to parties. Plus if you get cold I guarantee Henry is the kind of guy to give you his jacket and pull you close."

Elizabeth blushed just thinking about that, Norah was so right. She continued to search through her closet and finally settled on a denim jumper dress over a black turtleneck. It looked great on her and plus it was loose enough so that she could wear a pair of bike shorts underneath in case she had to move around. She topped off the dress with her favorite jean jacket. It was shockingly warm for the beginning of December but as she put her outfit on and looked herself over she knew she was going to be cold.

"I need tights. I'm going to freeze." She said turning to Norah.

Norah sighed, "Don't wear solid black ones. You need sheer black ones."

Elizabeth frowned but complied with Norah's directions and then slipped on her favorite pair of docs.

Norah groaned, "You are not wearing those, you're going on a date with a grad student, Lizzy! Not some silly freshman boy."

Elizabeth shook her head; "We've talked about this, Henry has seen me in flannel and overalls. I'm pretty sure if he still likes me after that, these shoes aren't going to be the deal breaker."

Norah laughed, "Okay, fine you're wearing a dress so I'll give you that one. All right, I'm going to dinner then a study group at the library so if you have a problem call there. But I seriously doubt you're going to have any problems with Mr. Future Religion Professor, he seems like the epitome of a gentleman."

Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from blushing, "He is a gentleman."

Norah rolled her eyes, "God, you're so into him I don't know whether to think it's completely adorable or throw up."

Elizabeth laughed at her friend, "Don't be jealous."

Norah grinned, "My jealousy cannot be helped, Henry is the hottest guy on campus!"

Elizabeth just shrugged and turned around to lightly apply her make-up.

Norah laughed, "I am definitely telling this story when I toast you guys at your wedding."

Elizabeth's face turned a shade of crimson, "Okay, it's _way_ too early to be talking about that!"

Now it was Norah's turn to shrug casually, "Whatever you say, roomie."

Elizabeth headed outside to wait for Henry, she was getting antsy in her dorm room and Norah was not helping. She figured she would have a few minutes to relax before he arrived but the minute she walked out the door she saw Henry walking toward her. She couldn't help the goofy grin forming on her face.

"You're early." She teased.

"So are you." He teased right back.

They reached each other and Henry held his hand out for her to take, "Maybe I was excited to see you."

Elizabeth blushed, "Me too. So where are we going for dinner?"

Henry pulled her into his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they started to walk to his car, "I was thinking that little French place in town?"

Elizabeth grinned, "That sounds perfect."

Dinner was wonderful. The conversation was easy and they both felt completely comfortable with each other. They knew a lot about each other from their little study sessions but with their feelings out on the table it made the conversation flow even more easily.

Elizabeth couldn't remember feeling this at ease with a boy for a long time—at least romantically speaking—she had two high school boyfriends but they weren't real relationships. The first had lasted a couple months and although they had sex it had always been more of a friendship that just became sort of a relationship of convenience. The her boyfriend senior year who, well she didn't want to think about him. She had felt more for Henry after just being introduced to him than she had felt for either of her two high school boyfriends throughout their whole relationships.

They finished up with dinner and decided to walk around a little. Elizabeth did not want the night to end so she was secretly hoping Henry had other plans for them.

"So I was hoping you'd like to go ice skating?" Henry said, "Don't be afraid to say no if it's not something you're interested in doing."

Elizabeth was thrilled he had more plans, "I'd love to go ice skating."

They went over to the ice rink and got their skates. Henry finished putting his skates on first and he knelt down to help Elizabeth with hers.

She blushed as he tied her laces, wrapping his hand around her small ankle to make sure it wasn't too tight. She normally wouldn't have liked a man helping her like that. But it was different with Henry, he wasn't helping her because he was a man and trying to assert his masculinity, he was just doing it because he was sweet.

"Thank you," she said, timidly.

Henry grinned and stood up, reaching down to help her. They made their way over to the ice and stepped out. They both had been skating before so they were at least able to make their way around the rink slowly but surely.

Henry was pretty sure this was the best night of his life. Elizabeth Adams had to be the nicest, most intelligent, not to mention the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. He loved holding her hand, knowing that she was right beside him and at least for now she wasn't going anywhere.

Most of their conversation throughout the night was casual, they didn't have the awkward getting to know each other part of the first date because they already knew each other. "Okay, tell me one embarrassing or funny story from childhood." Elizabeth ventured.

Henry laughed, "Oh god there are so many to choose from...let me think...oh! Okay so there was a park by my house and a little wooded area off the back of it. My friends and I would go play around there all summer pretending we were knights and lost boys and warriors and all that typical stuff. Well, once when I was ten we were in the middle of a really intense game of capture the flag and I had to...do what a bear does in the woods..." He trailed off, hoping he wouldn't have to say the words.

Elizabeth obviously understood what he meant because she looked like she was trying her hardest not to laugh. Henry continued, "Okay so I didn't want to go home so I figured the woods was a good enough place to do it. I wiped with what looked like a regular leaf but unfortunately a little while later I learned it was poison ivy."

Elizabeth couldn't help herself at that point and burst out laughing, "Oh my god, you wiped your ass with poison ivy." She was laughing so hard she was out of breath. Which then caused her to lose her balance and go tumbling to the ice, taking Henry with her. They both just laid there on the ice, both of them laughing hysterically not caring who was watching them.

Henry finally sat up and pulled Elizabeth with him. They both managed to stand up and start skating again. "Okay, now I think you owe me an embarrassing story because well, that was a good one."

Elizabeth nodded, still trying to stifle some of her laughter, "Okay, I do owe you a story because that was pretty great. Let me think." She paused, attempting to come up with something as good as Henry's story. "Okay so I don't know if I've ever done anything _that_ funny but a few summers ago when I was in Scotland with a student group, we had toured Edinburgh castle and we're waiting for the bus to take us into the city. So we decided to buy all of this children's armor and swords and have a sword fight. Well, we started our sword fight and apparently they were really crappy swords because I smacked hers a little too hard and the tip broke off and flew at my face. I ended up having to get 8 stitches in the side of my head and explaining what had happened, as a 16 year old, was very embarrassing. On the same trip I also fell out a window-first story, tripped over a pigeon while dancing around like an idiot, and started sleepwalking on a ferry ride and woke up in the toilet slash shower."

Henry was laughing, "Very mature Miss Adams."

Elizabeth smacked him lightly, "Shut up, we had fun! Despite the injury."

"I do have one question, how do you trip over a pigeon?"

Elizabeth blushed, "I honestly have no idea. We were outside Bath sitting by this fountain and there was music playing so I got up to dance and then honestly it happened so quickly I don't even know how. I was suddenly on the ground and all the pigeons just scattered around me."

Henry couldn't stop laughing, "Okay, that is pretty embarrassing. I find your confession worthy."

After they finished skating Elizabeth was getting antsy waiting for Henry to finally kiss her. They walked back to his car, still hand-in-hand and Elizabeth was sure she was going to go crazy if he didn't kiss her soon.

He paused when they got to the car and Elizabeth turned to face him. He smiled down at her and she smiled back. God he was beautiful. He ran a hand gently down her cheek and he leaned in toward her. Elizabeth could feel her heart beating faster and she couldn't believe this was finally happening. When their lips met it was unlike anything either of them had ever felt before. The kiss started out tender and chaste but grew as they both sunk into it. Henry wrapped his free hand around her torso, careful to stay in PG territory and she did the same. When they finally had to break apart for air the only coherent thought Elizabeth had was "Wow".

Henry grinned, "I was thinking the same thing."

After that he took Elizabeth home and being the perfect gentleman that he was walked her to her dorm. They shared one more spectacular kiss and Elizabeth was truly disappointed the night was ending.

"You have any plans for Friday night?" Henry asked, still holding her close after their little make-out session as he prayed he wouldn't freak her out by asking her out twice in one week.

Elizabeth grinned, she was not freaked out she was thrilled! "Not yet." She teased.

"How about I make you dinner and we watch a movie?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Oh my god I can't remember the last time someone cooked me dinner. That sounds wonderful."

Henry grinned, beyond thrilled that she'd said yes, "It's a date." He paused for a moment, "I'll still see you at the library tomorrow, won't I?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Definitely. I mean, I have to tell my study buddy about my incredible date, don't I?"

Henry laughed, "That's good because I have an equally incredible date to tell _my_ study buddy about."

She looked up at him and she couldn't focus on anything but his lips, she wanted to kiss him again so badly but her body was already buzzing and any more of that was going to make her want to do something not suitable for a first date.

She pulled him in one last time but instead of kissing him she whispered in his ear, "Goodnight Henry,"

And with that she turned around and scampered off into her dorm, giggling as she went.

Henry watched her as she walked into her dorm, laughing at how she had teased him and run off.

The next day Henry arrived at the library before Elizabeth as usual and he set up his things but didn't start studying, he just kept an eye out for her.

She walked into his line of sight a few minutes later and he stood up to greet her.

"Elizabeth."

She grinned, "Hi Henry," she wrapped her arms around him and he did the same, his head resting on her shoulder as he thought about how much he loved when she said his name.

They finally pulled apart and sat down to study like any normal day. But this wasn't a normal day, this was the day after the best date either of them had ever had.

Elizabeth looked over at Henry and decided she wasn't going to sit across from him today, she was going to sit next to him. She got up and shoved his backpack out of the way.

He tried not to laugh, she was just so damn cute and he loved seeing this boldness in her.

She didn't say anything, she just started to go through a notebook so Henry decide he was also going to make a move. He reached his hand down and intertwined their fingers. She didn't look up from her notes but he saw the edge of her beautiful smile.

They studied like that for a while until Henry unfortunately needed his hand back to do some writing.

Elizabeth was still reading though so she curled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Now it was his turn to smile coyly, this felt so normal, so right and it was wonderful.

After a little while like that he realized he needed a pick me up. He poked her side gently and she giggled. She turned to look up at him, "What?"

"I need a break."

She flashed him a devilish grin, "I think I have a good idea, something that will really take our minds off studying." With that she reached over to turn his head toward her and captured his lips with her own.

Henry was surprised by her actions, he had meant a coffee break but this was so much better than coffee. He snapped out of his stupor and started kissing her back. The other night had been slow, almost methodical kissing as if they were trying to memorize everything about the other person, but right now it was full-fledged making out. It felt electrifying as their tongues dueled, bodies hot, hands caressing as they awakened deep seeded desires in both of them.

Elizabeth kneeled up and swung a leg over his legs so she was straddling him in a move that surprised both of them. They continued making out, Henry's hands dancing along the waistline of her jeans and Elizabeth's pulling at his hair.

Finally Henry realized he needed to stop this before it went too far.

He gently pushed her back, he suppressed a groan when he got a glimpse of her swollen lips, red cheeks, and messy hair, she was literally the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. "I'm sorry...I just don't want to get caught up in the moment and do something we regret."

Elizabeth smiled; he was so sweet it melted her heart. She nodded in agreement, "Yeah, sorry, I don't know what got into me."

She really didn't know. She had never been one to initiate that kind of thing. In fact she'd never found kissing to be more than something recreational until she had kissed Henry. Now it was all she wanted to do.

Henry smiled and tenderly brushed her hair away from her face, "Please don't ever apologize for that, it was amazing."

She blushed and started laughing, "I just wanted to kiss you and I couldn't think about anything else. That's never happened to me before."

Henry grinned at her proudly, "Good."

* * *

Extra long because I'm feeling the love! Thanks so much for reading. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read my stories and especially everyone who has left me love. Your kind words always make my day and I appreciate them from the bottom of my heart!

Also, I wrote like 3 different versions of the way he asked her out but this cheese just felt right! I don't know if it's just me but I get major cheesy vibes from Dr. McHandsy (in a GOOD way. lol Like, normally I would hate that, but he makes it hot!). Anyone else feel the same?!


	6. Chapter 6

Class the next day was…interesting to say the least. Henry grinned like an idiot all through the class discussion, trying his hardest not to look at Elizabeth for too long and she in turn had trouble paying attention to anything he said.

After class, Henry's 'groupies' surrounded him as he answered their questions. Elizabeth snuck into the group of girls right beside Henry. She listened to him speak and she felt her face getting hot when she felt his hand sneak behind her back as he stealthily ran his hand down her spine, leaving her whole body tingling. She found herself thoroughly disappointed a moment later when he removed his hand just as quickly so as not to arouse any suspicion.

He finished answering questions and then started packing up his things as the girls dispersed. Elizabeth lingered and then started walking down the hallway. She was grinning as she walked; she knew Henry was following her. She turned the corner into one of the smaller hallways and stopped, leaning against the wall and waiting for Henry.

He turned the corner and before she could say anything his lips were on her, pressing her against the wall as they made out. After a little while Henry pulled back for air. He looked Elizabeth up and down; she looked so sexy with swollen lips and mussed up hair.

She bit her lip and he suppressed a groan, she was irresistible all the time but even more so when she did that. "So I might have missed most of your discussion today and may need a private lecture."

Henry laughed, "I would be more than happy to give you a private lecture." He teased as his hands ran up her sides, caressing her slim frame under her coat.

Elizabeth leaned in for one more kiss. "I have to go. I promised Norah we'd study together for econ. We're still on for tomorrow night right?"

"Definitely, I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Sounds perfect, I can't wait."

Elizabeth got back to her dorm room to find Norah already there. "Hey can we just stay here tonight and study instead of going to the library? I'd really just like to put my pajamas on and curl up in bed. It got really cold really quickly."

Norah nodded, "Yeah sounds good." She looked up at Elizabeth and pursed her lips as she assessed her friend.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Elizabeth asked as she changed into her favorite pair of plaid flannel pajamas.

Norah continued to study her friend, sensing something was off. Suddenly her eyes lit up, "Oh my god, you have sex hair."

Elizabeth felt her face grow flush, "What? What on earth are you talking about? I do not have sex hair!" She patted down her messy braids just to be sure.

Norah rolled her eyes, "Your lips are swollen and your cheeks are red-and don't tell me it's from the cold because it's definitely not-and your hair is mussed up like someone ran his hand through it."

Elizabeth blushed, "Fine, well, it's not sex hair. We didn't have sex. We just made out a little after class."

Norah threw her book down, ready to get some details out of her friend, "I knew it! How was it? He looks like he'd be a good kisser."

Elizabeth felt her face turning deeper shades of crimson by the second, "We are not talking about this, its private!"

"Oh come on, seriously? Lizzy, this is how girlfriends talk to each other. Come on, you haven't given me any details and I neeeed them!" Norah whined, flashing Elizabeth her best pout.

Elizabeth sighed, "It's not that I don't want to talk about him, I obviously do, but I'm just…I'm afraid to do it. Like I'm going to acknowledge this connection and then it will fall apart. Plus we haven't even defined our relationship yet; I don't want to jinx anything. I really like him and right now what we have is just ours and that feels really good."

Norah couldn't stop grinning; she loved seeing her friend so happy. "Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about. You're great and although I haven't met Henry-and I do expect to meet him soon by the way-I can only assume if he's managed to get you all googly eyed he's gotta be pretty incredible."

Elizabeth grinned as she sat down on her bed and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, "I think so."

The next night Henry picked her up right when he said he would and they headed to his apartment, which she was very excited to see.

His apartment seemed to suit him very well. It was small but cozy-a typical college apartment. His apartment was impressively clean, save for books scattered everywhere. The bookcase was overflowing and it looked like he had taken to just stacking them around the room. Elizabeth loved that, it reminded her of her Dad's old study that she and Will had been unable to touch since his death. It was an overwhelming emotion but at the same time it felt safe and comforting. Elizabeth decided almost immediately she liked Henry's apartment.

Henry told her he was making her breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns and Elizabeth could not have been more excited. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a good home cooked meal and she was pretty sure it had been even longer since someone had made her breakfast. Plus pancakes were her absolute favorite. She could really get used to this.

Henry insisted on doing all the cooking while Elizabeth watched him from her perch on his counter. He moved with ease around the kitchen and she found she enjoyed watching him in chef mode. They talked and laughed as he cooked and Elizabeth was fairly certain she'd never felt more comfortable with anyone in her whole life.

After a delicious dinner they decided to watch a movie. Elizabeth had let Henry pick the movie and she found it absolutely adorable that he had picked 'The Princess Bride'. Westley and Buttercup had just traversed the fire swamp but Elizabeth was having trouble paying attention. All she could think about was how she wanted Henry's lips on hers. Unbeknownst to her, Henry was thinking the exact same thing. All he wanted to do was kiss her but he didn't want to misread the moment or make it awkward.

Elizabeth finally gave up waiting and took matters into her own hands. She jumped him like a damn lion about to devour its prey. She straddled his lap as their lips met in a fiery passion. Henry didn't miss a beat and immediately wrapped his hands around her body and he pulled her close to him. They made out like that for a little while until they shifted their position so that Elizabeth was lying on the sofa with Henry above her. His hands had hovered at her waistline the whole time; he was too much of a gentleman to assume she would be okay with him venturing any further up or down.

Elizabeth reached down and covered his hand with her own, leading it up her body to her breasts. Henry broke their kiss for a minute to make sure she was really okay with this.

She nodded, "Henry, you can touch me. I want you to touch me and believe me; I never do anything I don't want to do."

Henry saw the honesty reflecting in her eyes and he couldn't help but laugh; he sure as hell believed this fantastic woman never did anything she didn't want to do. "You'll stop me immediately if I do anything you're not comfortable with?"

Elizabeth grinned; he was the sweetest guy in the world, "Absolutely."

He dove in to continue kissing her and his hand found her breast and she began to moan into his mouth.

Everything was heating up quickly and after a little bit Henry knew he had to stop. He definitely wanted to take this step with her but it was only their second date and although he had no doubt in his mind that this extraordinary woman would stop him the minute he crossed the line, he also didn't want to have to make her stop him. He didn't want to cross any lines with her, she was far too special. He wanted their first time to be special and here on his sofa wasn't special.

He pulled away reluctantly and she moaned in displeasure.

Henry smiled down at her beautiful form below him, "I think we should pause this for now."

Elizabeth pouted and Henry laughed, "I just don't want you to get caught up in the moment. I'd hate to be something you wake up and regret."

Elizabeth smiled and ran a hand through his messy hair, "I don't think that's ever going to be a problem."

Henry leaned in to kiss her again and shifted his body off of hers when he pulled back so he settled against her along the sofa. To his great pleasure on surprise she linked her leg between his and snuggled close to him.

"Do you want to spend the night?" Henry blurted, unable to stop himself, it was late and honestly after being so close to her all night he just didn't want to let her go.

She raised her eyebrows and Henry quickly scrambled to clarify his request. "No funny business, I swear! Strictly PG cuddling. We can even stay on the sofa?"

Elizabeth pretended to mull over this request just to make Henry squirm but she couldn't keep it up for long because if she was honest with herself, nothing in the world sounded better than falling asleep in Henry's arms. "That sounds wonderful."

Henry grinned and leaned in to kiss her, allowing himself to sink into her once again just for a minute.

When the movie was over Henry led Elizabeth into his bedroom and pulled out a pair of Marine Corps sweats for her to wear. He led her into the bathroom and pointed out where the washcloths and toiletries were he thought she might need. "I'm sorry I don't have an extra toothbrush."

Elizabeth had a mischievous look on her face as she turned toward him, "That's okay, I'll just use yours."

Henry's eye grew wide, surprised by her boldness.

She shrugged, "My tongue has been in your mouth half the night. I don't think a toothbrush is going to expose me to any germs I haven't already been in contact with."

Henry shook his head, laughing at her. This woman was an enigma and he wanted to spend all of his time surrounded by her luminous presence and bury himself in her like she was his favorite book. "Be my guest, Elizabeth." He said, his heavy voice sending tingles down her whole body until the pooled in her lower abdomen in a feeling she was becoming accustomed to when she was around Henry.

Henry walked out of the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He audibly exhaled and tried to think of anything to calm his desire for her. He squeezed his eyes shut. Football. Walruses. The Marine Corps. F-18 Hornets. Top Gun. Charlie Blackwood….nope, this had started heading in the wrong direction. Now he was picturing Elizabeth in a tight black skirt, white blouse and bomber jacket and making things _so_ much worse for himself.

He walked into his living room and quickly grabbed one of his theology textbooks and started reading. Okay, this was working. He wasn't processing anything he was reading but it didn't matter, he just needed to clear his head.

After a few minutes the bathroom door opened and Elizabeth walked out. He set his book down and entered the bedroom. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her practically engulfed by his sweats. This was probably a good thing, now he didn't have her tight jeans and loose t-shirt taunting him.

"Sexy, right?" Elizabeth joked, twirling around to give Henry the full visual.

He walked toward her and patted her sides, "I can't find your body in here babe."

Elizabeth's ears perked up, babe. He had called her _babe_. And she loved it. "Don't worry; I'll help you find it." She teased as she stepped closer to him and pressed her body against his. Her lips captured his and Henry groaned, partly because of their contact and partly because she was going to get him all hot and bothered all over again.

He pulled back, "I'm going to get ready. Make yourself comfortable."

Henry went into the bathroom and Elizabeth looked around his bedroom. She hadn't taken a good look earlier so she now took the opportunity to take everything in. His bedroom was much like the living room, clean and tidy save for the books scattered about. His bed was partially made, the blue plaid bedding looked handmade and that made her smile. Probably something his Mom made for him, Elizabeth remembered Henry mentioning she sewed. She then saw a picture on his dresser and walked over to examine it. It was most definitely his family. His Mom, his Dad, Erin, Shane, and…oh god what was his other sister's name? Colleen? Maureen? Maureen…that sounded right. Henry was in the middle of the photo, his arm around his mother. Elizabeth smiled, she liked that he was close with his mother.

Henry walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later wearing a t-shirt and flannel pajama pants. He looked so good. Who in the world looked that good in pajamas? It just wasn't fair.

Henry walked to his side of the bed and started pulling the bedding down. Elizabeth stayed put at the foot of the bed, suddenly a little unsure of herself.

Henry looked up at her as he was about to get in, "Do you sleep standing up? Astronaut training? Are you a bat?" He teased.

Elizabeth immediately felt her hesitation drop away. She laughed and walked over to the other side of the bed, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have a specific side. Also, bats sleep hanging upside down."

"You could have been looking for a good place to latch onto my ceiling for all I know, I can't read minds Elizabeth." He said, trying his hardest not to crack a smile and remain serious as he teased her.

Elizabeth started climbing into bed next to him, settling her head on the soft pillow so she was looking directly at him, "Well, even if I did prefer sleeping like a bat I'd probably wait to tell you until you were officially locked in as my boyfriend." She froze in her spot; she had used the b word. Good god, why had she used the b word?! She didn't want to pressure him into having a conversation he might not be ready to have.

Henry reached for her, his strong arm wrapping around her waist as he pulled her closer to him. "Am I not your boyfriend?" He whispered, his mouth barely an inch away from hers and his hot breath making her lips tingle in the most delightful way.

Elizabeth gulped, "Um…well," she stuttered out, unable to properly process anything while he was making her brain so fuzzy, "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" She was deflecting, at least it was coherent.

Henry's hand was in her hair and he pulled her to him gently so that he could kiss her. His lips felt like fire on hers and she realized as long as he kept kissing her she was happy to burn.

"Yes please," he whispered against her lips without breaking their contact.

Elizabeth was so pleased she couldn't find the words to express herself so instead she just deepened the kiss, her actions conveying her overwhelming enthusiasm. She couldn't stop smiling as she kissed him. Henry McCord was her boyfriend.

* * *

MAJOR apologies. I intended to get this up last night but apparently lack of sleep caught up with me and I passed out while editing. Then today was hectic and my co-workers took me out since it was my last day at this office and now I'm scrambling to pack and get my shit together because I'm leaving early tomorrow. So in conclusion I'm very sorry, it was not my intention to say I was updating and then not do it. Not cool of me. I should try to be a little less douche.

But, me traveling is good news for you because a full day of travel means a full day of writing! Not sure if I'll have access to wifi by my final stop so I'll try get the next chapter up as early as I can. I can't promise anything about this story because I've still got to organize the next chapter and write part of it BUT there will **definitely** be an update on **Perfect Imperfections** because that chapter is already almost done!

 **Anyway...thank you for reading and please leave me a review!**

P.S. I laughed the whole time I wrote that exchange about the toothbrush because I couldn't stop thinking about that episode of HIMYM where Ted, Marshall and Lily realize they had all been using the same toothbrush!


	7. Chapter 7

Henry woke up the next morning to a mess of blonde hair in his face and skinny limbs wrapped around him. He softly brushed Elizabeth's hair out of the way and kissed the top of her head. He was warm and cozy and he didn't want to let go of her. They had fallen asleep lazily kissing each other. He figured sometime in the night they would end up on opposite sides of the bed, that was always his previous experience, but he was more than pleased to wake up still tangled up in her. It was the best way he'd ever woken up. If he was honest he'd never really liked sleeping with someone else. He would often wake up in the middle of the night feeling uncomfortable and if he managed to fall back to sleep he would wake up the next morning grumpy and tired. But this was different. He had slept better than he had in a long time and he didn't want to move. De-tangling her limbs from him was the last thing on his mind. He would be happy to stay here all day just memorizing her.

He tried not to move because he didn't want to wake her but it didn't matter because the sunlight shining into the room did that for him.

Her eyes blinked open and she let out a huge yawn. Henry smiled. She was absolutely adorable. When she fully opened her eyes she looked up at Henry and a huge smile broke out on her face.

"Good morning babe."

She felt a shiver go down her spine when he called her babe. She really loved that. She grinned, "Good morning boyfriend."

Henry's smile widened and he leaned in to kiss her, "I like the sound of that so much I think I'm going to add it to the sign on my office door, 'Henry McCord, Theology Department and Elizabeth Adams' boyfriend'."

Elizabeth giggled, "I like that idea, maybe then I won't have to fight off your groupies all the time."

Henry raised an eyebrow, "My groupies?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and let out a huge laugh, "Seriously? Oh come on, all the girls who come to your office hours and hang out after class, I'm so sorry Henry but they don't actually care about Augustine, they just think you're really hot."

Henry laughed, "No they don't, you're crazy."

"Oh my god, I literally don't understand how you can be so oblivious. I guess I should have expected it, you're brilliant and beautiful so you had to be lacking in another area."

Henry just continued to laugh, "Even if the other girls in class were interested, you are the only girl I have eyes for."

Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from grinning like a maniac and she pushed him onto his back, straddling him and planting a passionate kiss on his soft lips.

When she finally sat up for air she ran her hands down Henry's strong chest. He was really fit, obviously from ROTC, but not muscular in a gross way, just in a defined way that made her body feel all hot and tingly.

Henry looked at her perched above him; she looked sexy even in his Marine Corps sweats that seemed to swallow her. He wanted her so much, but not yet and not like this. He needed to change the subject, "Can I make you breakfast?"

After Henry had made them omelets they got ready for the day. Elizabeth had a study group she had to get going and Henry had a paper to finish. Elizabeth had put on her clothes from the night before and she was a little grumpy that she had to give Henry back his sweatshirt.

It was like he could read her mind. He changed after her and walked out into the living room with the sweatshirt she had left folded on his bed. "Here, take this, it got even colder this morning."

Elizabeth didn't even attempt to protest. She just pulled the sweatshirt over her head and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you."

Henry drove her back to her dorm and insisted on walking her to the door. Elizabeth didn't want him to leave just yet so she invited him inside to see her dorm room and meet Norah.

When she opened the door she knocked first and popped her head inside, "Norah?" She didn't want to bring Henry into the room if Norah was still sleeping or in a compromising position.

To her relief Norah was sitting at her desk studying and she turned around at the sound of her name.

Norah jumped up and immediately launched into Elizabeth, "Oh my god Lizzy, you spent the night with Henry! You two had sex, didn't you? You look all happy and satisfied, you two totally had sex."

Elizabeth felt her face turning beet red, "Norah, oh my god, NORAH!" She said, trying to get her friend to stop talking so she could tell her Henry was with her. "NORAH!" Elizabeth said loudly and Norah finally stopped talking. "Norah, do you want to meet Henry?" Elizabeth asked calmly, already knowing her friend would be embarrassed no matter what.

This time it was Norah's turn for her face to flush red.

Elizabeth turned around and opened the door all the way, revealing Henry standing there awkwardly.

"Henry, Norah. Norah, Henry." Elizabeth didn't really know what else to say at this point.

"Oh god, please just ignore everything I said!" Norah exclaimed, her face still crimson. She stepped forward and held her hand out to Henry, "It's so great to meet you, Lizzy has nothing but good things to say about you."

Henry looked a little embarrassed but kept his cool as he shook her hand, "Same to you, I'm glad we're finally getting to meet."

"I um, I'm sorry about that, just so you know Lizzy doesn't just walk in here and spill all the gory details about what you two do together."

Elizabeth stood between her friend and her boyfriend, her head resting in her hands in total embarrassment. Henry's eyes were wide with amusement.

"Oh my god, I mean…crap, not to insinuate that what you guys do together is dirty or inappropriate or anything…oh god forget it, I'll just stop or this is just going to get worse." Norah's face was beet red.

"It was really great to meet you Henry and I promise next time we meet I will be much more normal. I'm just gonna go…somewhere else." With that Norah bolted out of the room.

Henry turned to Elizabeth and they both burst out laughing. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, she's great I swear. She just talks a lot when she gets nervous."

Henry shook his head and stepped forward to wrap his arm around Elizabeth, "I believe you, I promise. She seems great, maybe a little crazy but a little crazy is good."

"Thank you, I appreciate that." She said, wrapping an arm around his middle. "Thanks for walking me inside. I had an amazing time last night."

Henry pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. He wanted to ask her out again tonight but he knew she had plans with Norah and a few other friends. "Me too. Can I call you tomorrow?"

Elizabeth looked up at Henry and nodded, "Yes please." He leaned in to close the gap between them. Her mouth parted subtly and Henry dove in for more than the chaste kiss he had originally planned. His hand gripped her side, teasing the hem of his large sweatshirt on her slim body. They finally broke apart when they both needed air. Elizabeth pursed her lips, savoring the aftertaste of Henry; it was quickly becoming something she craved.

"I'll see you later." Henry said as he reluctantly pulled away from her and started walking down the hall.

Elizabeth watched him walk away and when he hit the staircase and flashed her one more smile before heading out. Elizabeth then walked back into her room. She took off her coat and flung herself onto her bed. She wrapped her arms around her body in an attempt to pretend that it was Henry's arms around her. It just wasn't the same though. He had literally been gone for a minute and she already missed him. She pulled the sweatshirt up so it covered her face and groaned into it. She felt like she was going crazy. She breathed in; his sweatshirt smelled like him and it was comforting. She was pretty sure she was never giving this back.

Later that night she ended up at a house party with Norah and a few other girls. The girls were all engaged in conversations with various males and Elizabeth was not interested at all. She had so far fended off the advances of three guys, she was feeling pretty buzzed, and she was about ready to drag Norah home.

But suddenly her night got much better. The front door opened and a few guys filed inside. The last one in the door was easily recognizable, his Marine green parka giving him away. Elizabeth made a beeline for the door.

"Henry!" She exclaimed, unable to hide the absolute delight on her face.

Henry turned to face her and when he realized who it was his eyes lit up and practically ran the rest of the way toward her and threw his arms around her, "Hey, babe," he said, squeezing her tight.

Elizabeth sighed into his shoulder, they had only been apart for a little over twelve hours but she had missed him nonetheless.

She finally pulled back, suddenly made away by the catcalling coming from his friends that they weren't alone.

Henry turned around sheepishly, his arm not leaving Elizabeth's waist, "Elizabeth, these are my friends. This is John, Eric, and you know Jim."

Elizabeth smiled, Jim Mariano was a senior and he was in their theology class. She liked Jim; he was a nice guy and a lot of fun to be around.

"Hey Jim!" She said, smiling brightly.

Jim grinned at her, "Dizzy Miss Lizzy! How are you?"

She rolled her eyes at the nickname but when he went in for a hug she reciprocated. Jim was loud and had no filter but he was a great guy and Elizabeth liked that he and Henry were friends.

"I finished a big paper this afternoon so pretty good. How about you?"

Jim laughed, "Oh, drinking away the pain of unfinished term papers as usual! So Lizzy Adams is dating our TA, I definitely pegged you as a rebel."

"All right Mariano, go find another girl to hit on." Henry cut in.

Jim laughed, "McCord, it's not my fault you landed such a good one!" He then spotted the keg and practically ran off.

They moved to the living room and started chatting with Henry's friends and a few other people. Elizabeth was finally enjoying herself. She was curled into Henry's side on the sofa and his arm hung over her lap in a casual way. They were drinking and enjoying talking when after a little while Henry and Elizabeth found themselves alone in the room.

Elizabeth couldn't keep her hand away from the buttons on Henry's shirt while his hand was lightly grazing the inside of her thigh.

Elizabeth wasn't one for PDA and even though there wasn't anyone in the room with them she really didn't want to make out on this gross sofa.

"Hey, um, do you want to get out of here?"

Henry's breathing was heavy. He wanted her so much. He nodded, "My place?"

Elizabeth nodded fervently, the alcohol had gone to her brain just a bit but even so she knew she wanted to go back to Henry's apartment.

Once they arrived they shed layers of clothing all the way to Henry's bed and by the time they hit the sheets they were down to just pants and undergarments. That was when Henry stopped them. He didn't want to stop. He wanted her, more than he had ever wanted anyone in his life, but she had been drinking and he didn't want to take advantage. "Babe, I think we should stop."

Elizabeth frowned. She was a little hurt by his words. Henry saw the hurt in her eyes and immediately backtracked, "No, babe! Oh god, I'm sorry, I just meant that we've been drinking and I really want this to be special. You are so special to me and I know it's cheesy but when we do this for the first time I want to be completely sober, I want to remember every single minute of it, and I want you to wake up with no regrets."

Elizabeth's face immediately broke into a smile, "You're right. I want that too. I keep forgetting we've only been together a week. It seems like so much longer. I guess the whole getting to know each other before we started dating blurred the lines a little bit."

Henry nodded, "Yeah, I agree. I love that we were friends before we started dating and it seems to have made everything else less complicated but seems to make this more complicated."

"Maybe I should just…" Elizabeth trailed off.

Henry frowned, "Elizabeth? What is it?"

She sighed, "I was going to say maybe we should avoid temptation all together and I should go back to my room…but I really don't want to do that."

Henry smiled and leaned in to kiss her, "Good, I don't want that either. Maybe we just trust ourselves to stop if we start going too far and we promise to talk about where we are and what we're doing."

Elizabeth nodded, "I can do that." She leaned in to kiss him again, "Thanks for letting me spend the night again."

"No thanks needed. You can spend the night any time you want. I'll get you some pajamas." Henry got up off the bed and searched through his dresser. He pulled out a big flannel shirt and a pair of pajama pants and handed them to her.

Elizabeth handed the pants back, "I'm a little warm so I'm just going to stick with the shirt. Thank you." She slipped the flannel on and expertly pulled her bra out of her sleeve. She then slipped her pants off and crawled back into Henry's bed.

Henry tried not to think too much about her long, gorgeous, bare legs under his bedding as he quickly swapped his jeans for the pajama pants she had rejected and crawled back into bed with her. He didn't put a shirt on. She was tempting him with her gorgeous legs and two could play at that game. She snuggled close to him, arms wrapped around his middle and legs tangled together like puzzle pieces. Henry kissed the top of her head and wished her sweet dreams. They had only been dating a week but he knew in his heart he was falling in love with Elizabeth Adams. That sounded crazy, but despite that, deep down he knew it was true.

The next morning Elizabeth woke up to find Henry already out of bed. The smell of coffee and eggs wafted into the bedroom and so she got up and wondered into the kitchen.

Henry saw her come in and immediately his heart started beating faster. She looked sexy as hell in his flannel shirt that barely covered her bottom, her long legs peeking out from underneath, and her blonde hair a wavy mess around her shoulders.

He held up a cup of coffee in front of him and she grabbed onto it, practically downing the hot liquid in one long gulp. "Oh my god, you're my hero."

Henry smiled and reached out for her hand. He set down his newspaper and pulled her into his lap. Elizabeth set her coffee on the table and wrapped her arms around him, running her fingers through his hair as she kissed him. It was slow and tender at first but soon enough they were both feeling the fire ignite inside them once again.

Elizabeth pulled back from Henry, breathless. "Hey um," she didn't really know how to go about this conversation, "I'm not a virgin."

Henry just froze as if he didn't really know how to react to her admission. "Good morning to you too…"

Elizabeth laughed, "I'm sorry, I just…well, we said last night that we were going to talk our way through this relationship and I just wanted to put that out there."

Henry mulled over her words. He was happy she was comfortable enough to share but he wasn't sure if she was saying this because she just wanted to be open about everything or if a part of her wanted to get it out right away because she was afraid he would judge her. He really hoped it wasn't the latter because it would break his heart if she thought he would be such a jerk about her sharing something so personal. He figured the best way to respond was giving her honesty in return, "I'm not a virgin either. " He took it a step further. "I had two girlfriends before you with whom I had sex. One sophomore year of undergrad and one last year who I broke up with at the beginning of this year."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't pegged him as a prude, after all they had alluded to having sex in the future and there had been no talk of waiting until marriage to go along with it. But she still hadn't been sure if he was a virgin or not. Just because he was 23 and gorgeous didn't mean he'd had sex. "Two for me as well, one boyfriend junior year, we were just friends who sort of fell into a relationship. We only did it a couple times. Then my boyfriend senior year."

Henry smiled up at her, "Did you think I was a virgin because I didn't want to have sex yet?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "Honestly, I had no idea." She paused, suddenly the mention of his most recent girlfriend popping back into her mind. "Um, so you were dating someone at the beginning of the school year?"

"Yeah, her name was Maggie Murphy. She's a law student." We started dating after winter break last year and then we broke up a couple weeks into the semester." Henry took a deep breath; full honesty was what was going to make this relationship work, "I broke up with her after I met you. At that point I didn't think we'd ever be together but I just couldn't stand the thought of stringing her along when she wasn't the one. It didn't feel right to be with her knowing how I felt about you."

Elizabeth stayed silent for a moment, processing what Henry had just told her. It was a lot to take in, sure she felt a little guilty that he had broken up with this Maggie because he was interested in her but really wasn't that a good thing? She didn't want to be with a guy who would use her as some kind of backup if he didn't get what he really wanted and she didn't want to be with a guy who would do that to another girl as well. Henry looked a little nervous as she was thinking so she reached up to cup his cheek and smiled down at him, "You're a good man, Henry McCord." She leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his lips and she felt Henry's whole body relax at her words.

The tail end of the semester got hectic and Elizabeth and Henry spent every minute of their very limited free time together. The night before break started they were cuddled together on Henry's sofa watching a movie and while Elizabeth seemed perfectly content Henry couldn't get the thought that he wouldn't see her for two whole weeks out of his mind. Sure he wanted to see his family but even more so he didn't want to leave Elizabeth alone at school. He hated that she had planned to stay there alone. It was eating him up inside. He wanted more than anything to invite her home with him but he knew she wasn't ready. She put on a brave face, telling him she would be fine and joking about how she was going to enjoy the peace and quiet and not shave for the whole two weeks until he came back. He laughed with her but still felt uncomfortable leaving her by herself and promised to call her every day.

They had a long, drawn out goodbye that culminated in Henry giving Elizabeth his spare key and asking her to stay at his apartment. Everyone would be out of the dorms and he would feel better if she was somewhere where there would be at least people around in case something happened. Plus he had a kitchen and even though Elizabeth was terrible at cooking she could at least attempt to make something that wasn't a cup of noodles. Elizabeth protested but took the key anyway knowing she would probably take Henry up on his offer. It wasn't to be around people or to have the kitchen, it was simply to sleep in his bed and feel his presence.

Henry's first week with his family was fine. The holiday was good and he enjoyed seeing everyone even though on the 26th he was already starting to get frustrated by his father and his older sister. His mother caught him calling Elizabeth that day. She popped her head into his room as he hung up the phone, "Was that your girl?"

Henry smiled and felt the blush creeping onto his cheeks, "Elizabeth." He'd mentioned he was seeing someone new to his family but they hadn't talked much about her yet.

His mother smiled, "Pretty name for a pretty girl?" She wondered aloud.

Henry blushed even deeper but he got up and went to his bag to pull out a photograph of him and Elizabeth. A friend had taken it the week earlier at a pre-finals bash and given Henry a copy. He and Elizabeth were sitting on the sofa together, their arms around each other; they looked completely at ease and content. Henry loved the picture and he was planning on framing it for Elizabeth. She had insisted on no Christmas gifts but he was going to do this for her anyway.

He handed the picture over to his mother and her face lit up, "Wow, pretty is an understatement."

"She's beautiful. Even more beautiful on the inside than the outside, if that's possible."

His mother looked up at him, "I'd expect nothing less from a girl who has you this smitten."

Henry nodded sheepishly, "She's incredible, Mom. I have never felt this way about anyone in my whole life."

"So what's the problem?" His mother asked, standing in front of him with her arms crossed. She wasn't going to let him get away with whatever he was keeping to himself.

"She spent Christmas alone at school. Her parents died when she was twelve and her brother is in medical school in England. I wanted to ask her to come home with me but we've only been dating for a month and I really can't scare this girl away."

"Go back to school, Henry. Go be with Elizabeth. It sounds like she could use someone to remind her how nice it is to be with family."

"Mom, I don't want to leave you guys. Dad will not be happy."

His mother waved him off, "Oh don't worry about that, I'll take care of your Dad. Go be with your girl, just promise me you'll bring her home one weekend?"

Henry immediately enveloped his mom in a huge hug. "Thanks Mom, I promise I'll bring her home sometime soon. I love you."

Meanwhile Elizabeth was sitting on Henry's sofa clad in his Marine Corps sweats and mindlessly flipping through an old book of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. She had spent the first week at her own dorm room but by the end she was fairly certain that if she spent another moment there she would go insane. It was so eerily quiet and it made this whole terrible holiday worse. She was absolutely miserable. She had cried herself to sleep two nights in a row and then decided to move herself over to Henry's apartment. She felt a little better there. At least there were people around his building so she didn't feel so isolated. Just being in his apartment had made her feel better. She gave up on skimming through Henry's books and decided on a nap. First she put on some music. She and Henry had very similar taste so she had no problem finding something she liked. She put on Rubber Soul and then crawled into his comfortable bed, pulled his pillow close to her and closed her eyes. She let the soft music lull her to sleep.

When Henry walked into his apartment he was surprised to hear music coming from his bedroom. He knew Elizabeth had hung out there the last couple days but she hadn't been clear as to whether or not she was just dropping by to pick up his mail and watch tv or if she was actually staying there.

He dropped his bag on the ground, shed his winter layers and walked into his bedroom. The sight he came across was all at once sweet and heartbreaking. Elizabeth was cocooned in his bedding, clutching his pillow close to her chest as she slept.

Henry didn't want to startle her so when he sat down next to her he tried to move as little as possible. He tucked a lock of her messy hair behind her ear so he could get a better look at her face. She looked like she had a rough couple of days. She had bags under her eyes and her normally shiny blonde hair was a little dirty and messy.

He stroked her arm gently, just content to watch her sleep for the time being.

After a little while her eyes fluttered open. "Henry?" She asked, not sure if this was a dream or reality.

"Hey babe," Henry said with a smile.

Elizabeth opened her eyes wide and sat up. She couldn't believe Henry was here, he wasn't supposed to be back for another four days.

"Henry," she said again, though this time it was more of a sigh of relief than anything and she threw her arms around his neck. "How come you're home so early?"

Henry buried his face in her neck, he had missed her more than he let himself realize. "I missed you."

Elizabeth felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she clung to her beautiful Henry. "I missed you so much."

Henry held her even tighter; "I couldn't stand being away from you for another day. I hated knowing you were here all alone."

Elizabeth sniffled, "Yeah, that wasn't the best decision I ever made." She pulled back from him and wiped her face, "What did your family say about you leaving early?"

"Shane and Erin were fine, Dad and Maureen rolled their eyes at me, and my Mom is actually the one who told me to come back early."

Elizabeth was surprised at that statement, "Your Mom told you to come back?"

"Yeah, apparently it's very obvious that I'm smitten with you and after I told her you were here by yourself she told me to come back. She did stipulate that she wants to meet you as soon as you're up for it."

Elizabeth just sat there, grinning like an idiot at Henry. She didn't know what to say, she just knew she wasn't sure what she had done to deserve Henry McCord. She threw her arms around him once again, "Thank you, Henry."

* * *

Thanks to everyone reading and even more thanks to everyone who leaves me a review. Getting that little notification seems like a small thing but it means so much to me and I appreciate you taking the time to even simply tell me you're enjoying what I'm working really hard to put out for you. Thanks a million xxx

Next chapter of 'Perfect Imperfections' should be up in a day or two. I'll be rotating, I've found it makes my life easier because I'm not so scattered trying to knock them out at the same time.

This was more of a bridge chapter. Bigger things are coming, gotta make them work for it a little bit! haha

Again, thanks so much for reading. Much love xx J


	8. Chapter 8

Elizabeth and Henry spent the remainder of their break blissfully cut off from the rest of the world. Campus started to come to life again after the New Year but they had no interest in interacting with anyone outside of Henry's tiny apartment. Elizabeth was taking an intercession course and Henry had ROTC training so they spent most of the day apart and then enjoyed their nights in each other's company. Elizabeth secretly loved that. It felt like an adult relationship, sort of like they were going to work all day and then coming home to be with each other. She couldn't admit it to herself but in the back of her mind she knew it felt so good because it felt like she had a family again. Elizabeth stayed with Henry the entire break since Norah wasn't doing an intercession course and therefore wouldn't be back until regular classes started back up. She had avoided going to her apartment until the last possible day. Today was that day. She was officially out of underwear.

She walked out into the living room to find Henry, nose buried in a book as usual.

"Hey babe, can I borrow a pair of underwear?"

Henry dropped his book and looked at her with raised eyebrows, "You're going to wear my underwear?"

"No, actually I'm going to hang it off a pole outside your window like we're at summer camp and I've conquered your bunk." She quipped.

Henry laughed, "Well, of course then, you can conquer my bunk any day." He said with a wink as he got up and walked into his bedroom.

Elizabeth followed, her cheeks bright red at his words.

Henry opened his dresser drawer, "You do know you can do laundry at my place?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips, "I appreciate that, but that's not going to help me right now because I have no underwear left and I need to grab a couple things from my dorm and I'm not going commando in jeans."

Henry was rummaging around for the smallest pair of underwear he could find as she spoke, looking for a pair that had perhaps shrunk in the wash because she was quite tiny and he was pretty sure his underwear would just fall down. He stopped rummaging at her final words and looked up at her, unable to help himself as his eyes skimmed her body as they made their way to her face, "So, you're telling me you have no underwear on right now?"

"I rarely wear underwear to bed." Elizabeth said with a shrug, like what she was saying was the most obvious and normal explanation ever.

Henry had to suppress a groan. His stunning girlfriend was standing in front of him with a pair of his pajama pants slung dangerously low on her hips and now she was telling him she wasn't wearing underwear. This woman was going to be the death of him and he was fine with that.

He composed himself and handed her a pair of undies. They were a pair of briefs he never wore and although they might be loose on her, they would work for now.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said with a smile as she grabbed the undies from Henry and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

She was only wearing a UVA t-shirt with nothing on underneath and she quickly took it off and tossed it on the bed. She never felt self-conscious around Henry. He made her feel like she was the most beautiful woman in the world even when she was a mess. They still hadn't had sex and she understood their reason for waiting, but it was becoming much more difficult as their frequent make-out sessions always seemed to end with her shirt off. She knew he wanted their first time to be special and not in a moment of impulse but that didn't mean she was above taunting him.

Henry watched as she took off her shirt and searched around for another one. He felt his jeans getting a little tighter but he couldn't look away. He knew she was teasing him and he didn't mind. She slipped on a t-shirt and then a baggy sweatshirt of his over it and suddenly dropped her pants to the ground. Henry thought his eyes were going to bulge out of his head. The sweatshirt hit just right at her thighs, skimming her small bottom and really creating a problem for him in his jeans.

She slipped the briefs on and as she bent over Henry got a quick glimpse of part of her gorgeous backside and he was fairly certain if he didn't start thinking of anything but his gorgeous girlfriend at the moment he wasn't going to be able to control himself.

Elizabeth turned around, a devious smirk on her face and she sauntered over to him, not bothering to put her jeans on. "See something you like Lieutenant McCord?"

He laughed and pulled her close to him, pressing his lips to the spot below her ear he knew drove her crazy. She gasped at the unexpected contact and he was happy he affected her in the same way she affected him. "You are evil, Miss Adams. And you are perfect."

Elizabeth snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him close, relaxing in the instant comfort she felt when his strong body was pressed against hers.

Later they went to her dorm room to get some more clothes and came back to Henry's. He had insisted they bring all of her dirty laundry. He said there was no point in her wasting time at the laundry room on campus when she could just use the washer and dryer at his apartment. She liked this idea, the domesticity of it all made her a little nervous but then she looked at Henry and she felt totally at ease.

Intercession was almost over and Henry and Elizabeth decided to actually go out after her last class to celebrate. Elizabeth had insisted she go back to her dorm and find something pretty to wear. She tossed her things down in her dorm and saw the answering machine blinking. She hadn't been back in a week so she hit play and started searching for an outfit. There were two messages from Norah, both giving Elizabeth crap for practically living at Henry's and then doing a 180 and demanding details. But the next message was from today and had been left by Will. "Hey Lizzy, I guess you're still in class. If you want to talk give me a call. Hope you're okay."

Elizabeth froze and she felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. It couldn't be January 24th. Will had to be mistaken. She wouldn't have forgotten about today. She couldn't.

She scrambled to her calendar and gasped when she saw the date. January 24th. Oh god. She had completely blocked it from her mind. She picked up the phone to call Will and thankfully he answered. They talked for a little while, sharing a few memories but never really taking about what happened. That seemed to be the only tradition they had anymore.

She hung up the phone and crawled into her bed and just let herself cry.

She suddenly heard a knock on the door. Oh god, it was Henry. She had forgotten about their date. She got up and walked over to the door, attempting to compose herself. She looked in the mirror and frowned. She was a mess.

She walked up to the door but didn't open it. Instead she leaned against it, "Henry, I'm not feeling well. I'm sorry we're going to have to reschedule."

"Elizabeth? Are you crying? Babe, open the door." Henry responded, getting concerned.

"No, I don't want you to get sick. Just go away, Henry." Her resolve was breaking and now she was crying again.

Henry stood on the other side of the door in utter confusion. "Baby, open the door. Please?"

Now she was just sobbing. A part of her wanted to let him inside but another part of her was angry that he had distracted her with so much happiness that she had forgotten today's significance. She had woken up this morning happy in Henry's arms. They had eaten breakfast together, joked and laughed as if they hadn't a care in the world. She felt sick to her stomach being so happy on a day like today. "Henry, please just go away."

Henry was freaking out. He had half a mind to find her RA to let him into the room but he knew that wouldn't go over well. "I am not going anywhere until I know you're all right." He said firmly.

Elizabeth was still pressed against the door, she didn't feel like she deserved Henry right now and she certainly felt he deserved more than this crap she was pulling. "Just go away, Henry. I don't want you here."

Her words cut like a knife even though he knew she was just being defensive. He had half a mind to sit there in front of her door until she came back out but he knew she wouldn't respond well to that. She needed space and he was going to give her space—for now. "Fine, Elizabeth. But you can't push me away. If you want this to work you have to talk to me, you have to trust me."

Elizabeth sunk to the floor. She did trust him. That was the problem. Henry made her so happy she had managed to put the worst thing that had ever happened to her out of her mind. What if they didn't work out? She wasn't sure she'd survive losing him too. "I can't." She practically whispered.

Henry sighed and felt his eyes tearing up. He felt a little guilty for pushing her this far so he decided to leave. He knew she was upset and probably saying things she didn't mean. She needed time to process and he would give it to her, but he was coming back immediately tomorrow morning because right now she might think she was better off alone but he knew she'd regret that later. "Sleep well, Elizabeth." He said quietly before turning to walk down the hallway.

Elizabeth sat on the ground and listened to his footsteps fade away and once she heard the stairway door slam she started sobbing once again.

It took her a while to compose herself but once she did she picked up the phone to call Joey and she told him everything.

She confessed everything to him. She talked about how she and Henry were so close and how she was pretty sure she had screwed it all up in just a few minutes.

"You were close with your parents, right?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, we were very close." Elizabeth said, a rogue tear running down her face.

"What if you could trade the twelve years you had with your incredible parents for fifty years with terrible parents? You wouldn't do it and you know it. That is the point of loving someone so much, no matter how much time you get with them, you wouldn't trade it because trading what's authentic, even if it's painful, for something that's fake and therefore less painful, isn't worth it. Maybe you and Henry won't last but maybe you will. Maybe someday you'll get married and have kids and be obnoxiously happy. My point is, when you really love someone you open yourself up to suffering and pain, but you also open yourself up to happiness and love. You deserve to be happy, Lizzy. If you don't even give yourself a chance you'll spend your whole life regretting your choices. You will never regret loving someone who was deserving of your love and from what you've told me about Henry he sounds deserving."

Elizabeth didn't know what to say. Joey was right obviously, but she couldn't just allow him to bask in the smugness of being right. "I'm not in love with Henry." She said defiantly.

Joey chuckled, "Of course you're not."

They both knew she was lying.

Elizabeth chose to ignore his sarcasm and said goodbye to Joey and thought about everything he said. She had sent Henry away because she was afraid and wanted to be alone. But she didn't want to be alone. At least, she wanted to be with Henry. She sunk into her bed and tried to get comfortable but it felt wrong. All she could think about was Henry and how she loved falling asleep with his arms around her. That thought made her start to panic. What if he thought she was breaking up with him? What if he didn't want to deal with her crap? What if this was over and she'd never fall asleep in his arms again? That thought alone made her nauseous and she didn't care that it was 1 AM, she needed to see him.

Henry hadn't really been sleeping but nevertheless was a little disoriented when the pounding coming from his door started. He got up to check it out. All he was wearing was boxers but the pounding was growing incessant and he just ran to it not caring what he was wearing. He pulled it open and was shocked to see a disheveled Elizabeth pounding at the door. She was clad in a pair of his Marine Corps sweatpants and a ratty old UVA sweatshirt he didn't recognize. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she had been crying. He immediately pulled her into his arms, not caring that their last conversation had been a fight he still didn't understand the root of. All he cared about was that she was here and she was in his arms once again. He pulled her into the apartment as she cried into his arms and he tenderly led her over to the sofa.

He just held her for a little while, letting her cry it out until her breathing started to steady. "Babe, what's going on?" He said, pulling back so he could look into her eyes.

He frowned, her normally beautiful icy blue eyes were the stunning color of the Mediterranean as the tears continued to fall from her exquisite face. He cupped her cheek gently, "Elizabeth, what's going on? Are you all right?"

She took a deep breath, "I'm so sorry about earlier. I'm sorry I yelled at you and got all weird and I'm especially sorry for telling you I couldn't trust you because that's a lie, of course I trust you. I trust you more than anyone"

Henry managed a smile, "Babe, it was just a fight, it may have been our first but it won't be our last. I know you trust me, sometimes we say things in the heat of the moment that we don't mean. I was just letting you cool down. I would have marched over to your dorm tomorrow morning and demanded you talk to me."

Elizabeth cracked a smile and that made Henry feel better, "There's that beautiful smile."

Elizabeth blushed, "So…so you're not done with me?"

Henry felt his heart break a little at her statement, "What? Are you crazy?"

Elizabeth's eyes lit up a little at that statement, "You're sure?"

Henry pursed his lips and ran his free hand through her hair. It really broke his heart that she thought she was that expendable to him. He knew how he felt about her, it was too early to tell her, she was a scared 18 year old with shockingly low self-esteem and he was afraid if he told her he was 110% sure she was the girl he was going to marry it would send her right back out the door. He sighed, "It is going to take a hell of a lot more to drive me away." He paused and his voice got lower, "Elizabeth, tell me what happened?"

She sniffled and sighed, "Today, well technically yesterday, is the day…." She paused and took a deep breath, "six years ago today is the day my parents died."

All at once Henry completely understood her actions. He pulled her to him and let her rest her head on his shoulder, "Babe I am so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just…I've never had anyone like you and we've been so happy in our own little bubble that I forgot the date was coming up. I didn't even realize it until I got Will's message. I felt guilty that I could put this day out of my mind. It almost felt wrong to have allowed myself to be happy on a day where I should be sad. I know I should have told you but I got scared. I don't know what else to say except that I'm just so sorry and I hope you aren't too mad at me because I was just sitting there alone like I always do and all I could think about was that I was so terrified I had screwed things up between us and I realized I wanted you there with me. I wanted to tell you what was going on with me. I realized I'm starting to depend on you and I honestly don't know what I'd do without you and I got so upset because I thought I might have scared you away."

She was crying again and Henry continued to hold her and stroked her hair gently. He wasn't afraid to scare her now; she needed at least a small idea of how strongly he felt about her. He kissed her head gently and whispered, "You're not going to lose me. I promise you. I'm not going anywhere. I don't care how much you yell at me, you're not going to get rid of me that easily."

Elizabeth buried her head in Henry's shoulder and couldn't help but smile, "Can I stay the night?"

Henry laughed, "No babe, I'm going to make you go back to your apartment in the middle of the night." He shook his head, "Of course you can stay. I always want you to stay."

With that Henry scooped her up from the sofa and carried her to his bedroom.

Elizabeth couldn't stop laughing in his arms as he carried her into the bedroom and tossed her gently onto his bed. He got in after her and cozied up to her, his strong arms wrapped around her small body. She kissed him gently and tucked her head against his chest. Joey was right; she was in love with Henry McCord.

* * *

I gutted this chapter twice because I just couldn't figure it out. I finally finished it and edited it at work this morning and meant to go over it tonight but I ended up at my sister's house for much longer than originally anticipated because my nieces insisted I read them bedtime stories and tuck them in and now I'm just too tired to go over it again. But I told myself I was going to start on a schedule and I want to update this story every Tuesday and Perfect Imperfections every Thursday with the occasional bonus chapter thrown in when I have the time. So even though I'm exhausted and jet lagged I didn't want to bail on an update on the very first week I told myself I was going to start the schedule. So I apologize if there are any glaring mistakes. Let me know if you see something.

 **Thanks so much for reading and please let me know what you thought of this chapter. Hearing what you think of my work really helps me to keep writing & I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave me a comment. xx J**


	9. Chapter 9

Elizabeth had her intercession final on a Friday so all week she had been holed up in the library. Henry had missed his girlfriend the whole time but knew she had to study. His favorite part of every day was between 11 and 1 AM when she would sneak into his apartment, crawl into his bed, and cozy up to him. Her little body was always cold and he loved being able to wrap his arms around her and feel her instantly relax as his warmth surrounded her.

On Thursday she planned on being at the library late with her study group and he decided she deserved a break so he was going to bring her late dinner. He showed up there around 8 and snuck in takeout from her favorite Chinese place.

Elizabeth saw him walk into the library common area and her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of him. She waved at him and she felt her heart flutter when he smiled at her. She watched the other girls stare enviously as he made his way over to her. She noticed Henry had tunnel vision when it came to her. Other girls could be drooling over him and he wouldn't notice if he had her in his sights. In fact she was fairly certain he didn't even notice the other girls when she was nowhere to be seen. The man had absolutely no idea how handsome he was.

Elizabeth's friend Christy was sitting next to her and she was one of the girls practically drooling over Henry. "Oh my god Lizzy, if I didn't like you so much I'd hate you. Henry is so gorgeous."

Elizabeth smiled over at Christy and then got up to meet her boyfriend. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her close. She took in his scent and immediately noticed something was off. She pulled back, eyebrows raised, "Why do you smell like Cai? Did you go without me?"

Henry laughed and pointed to his backpack, "I snuck you in some takeout. I thought you could use a break?"

Elizabeth smiled and planted a big kiss on his lips, not caring who saw her, "Want to eat it in the stacks?"

They headed down to their usual study spot in the stacks and chatted casually while eating their takeout. When they were finished Elizabeth knew she had to get back to studying but she wasn't ready to say goodbye. They had barely kissed all week apart from chaste kisses hello and goodbye and she really missed him. She dove in for a kiss and it quickly got out of hand. Henry's shirt was halfway unbuttoned and her sweater flew across the room when suddenly someone interrupted their break from reality.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" The voice exclaimed, then paused and said, "Henry?"

Elizabeth practically jumped off Henry and they both looked over at the source of the voice. Elizabeth had no idea who the woman was but Henry's face was beet red.

"Maggie," he said after a minute.

Elizabeth frowned, she knew that name but this was the first time she was actually seeing the other woman.

Elizabeth studied her for the moment Henry seemed to be in a stupor. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes. She was fairly thin and was a few inches shorter than Elizabeth. She was definitely cute but she wasn't beautiful like Elizabeth.

Henry seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and he stood up, grabbing Elizabeth's hand and taking her with him.

He turned to face her, "Elizabeth this is Maggie," he turned back to Maggie, "Maggie this is Elizabeth."

Elizabeth was comforted by the fact that Henry held on tightly to her hand while Maggie seemed to size her up the way Elizabeth had previously sized Maggie up.

Maggie turned toward Henry and pursed her lips, "Wow, I heard you were dating a pretty blonde freshman but I didn't actually believe you'd date one of your students." She squeezed her eyes shut the minute the words came out her mouth. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so snarky. It just came out."

"It's um…it's fine." He squeezed Elizabeth's hand as he spoke.

"It's not, that wasn't cool of me. You guys just surprised me. I didn't expect to find anyone down here and then to see my ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend is just about the weirdest it can get."

"Really, it's fine. We shouldn't be doing that here. We should probably be the ones apologizing." Elizabeth said with a laugh, trying to lighten the situation.

Her comment made Maggie smile and Henry squeezed her hand in appreciation.

"You um, you look good Maggie. How's school going?" Henry asked, trying to change the subject.

Maggie shrugged, "It's great. Everything's great. How about for you?"

Henry nodded, "Same, everything is great."

Henry continued to grip Elizabeth's hand as the awkward silence filled the air around them.

"I should be going. It was good to see you, Henry." Maggie said before turning to Elizabeth, "It was nice to meet you, Elizabeth."

"You too," Elizabeth said quietly.

As quickly as Maggie came she was gone. Henry turned to Elizabeth, "I am so sorry about…everything that just happened."

Elizabeth stifled a laugh and stepped forward to run her hand through Henry's hair. "Henry, it's fine. She was fine and honestly if we broke up and I found you rolling around the floor of the library with some skank my reaction would be _so_ much worse. Honestly, I'd probably have to kill the bitch and then you."

Henry couldn't help but laugh. He was so relieved Elizabeth hadn't freaked out about this whole interaction. He leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers, "You are insane and wonderful and I adore you." He leaned in to kiss her lips lightly. He whispered against them, "I suppose you have to get back to studying."

Elizabeth nodded reluctantly as she kissed him. When she finally managed to pull herself away she had to stop and catch her breath. "I'll um…I'll see you back at your apartment a little later?"

Henry sighed, "Don't be too late. I've missed you this week and you want to be well-rested for your final tomorrow."

The next morning Elizabeth trudged back to Henry's apartment after her final. She was tired and all she wanted was to crawl back into bed. She figured Henry was up and reading since he rarely slept after 7 and it was 10 but she hoped she could convince him to cuddle with her because she needed to go back to bed.

When she walked into the apartment she immediately smelled pancakes. She dropped her things at the door and walked into the kitchen.

Henry saw her and flashed her his gorgeous thousand watt smile, "Hey babe, banana pancakes?"

She practically melted at the sight of him. "Henry, this smells delicious."

"I thought you deserved a treat after you finished your final. How do you think you did?"

Elizabeth shrugged, pretending to be coy, "I guess I did all right."

Henry grinned and pulled her into his arms, "Aww, my baby is so modest. You know you aced it." He leaned in to kiss her neck and made her giggle.

She tried to casually grab for the plate of pancakes and as she was reaching Henry pulled away from her and feigned disbelief. "Oh my god, I cannot believe you'd rather eat pancakes than make out with me!" He said as he started to tickle her.

Elizabeth could not stop laughing as Henry tickled her sides. She tried to speak through her laughter, "I _do_ want to make out with you. Normally I wouldn't hesitate choosing you over the pancakes, but I'm starving because I haven't eaten since last night and my stomach was growling through my whole final. So if you'll let me drizzle maple syrup all over you then we could kill two birds with one stone?"

Henry laughed, "Let's just put a pin in that idea for now?" He said as he tenderly ran a hand down her cheek.

Elizabeth sighed; she was getting frustrated with Henry's reluctance to move their physical relationship forward.

Henry stepped closer to her, pressing her against the counter with his pelvis, his hot breath against her ear. "How about Sunday night I take you to Rosebud?"

Elizabeth felt her breath hitch and a chill go down her spine as Henry bit her earlobe, "Um, yes that uh…that sounds great." Her brain felt foggy already and he was barely doing anything.

Henry suddenly pulled away from her and grabbed the pancakes to bring them to the counter. "Come on, I thought you were hungry?" He teased.

Henry and Elizabeth at their breakfast and Elizabeth could not stop yawning.

"Okay babe, how about we go back to bed for a little while?"

Elizabeth nodded sleepily and they headed into Henry's bedroom. He helped her change into sweatpants and they crawled back in bed. Henry wrapped his arms tightly around Elizabeth and he listened to the sound of her rhythmic breathing as she fell asleep. He wasn't tired but there was no way he was moving. Being in bed with her, feeling her body move against him and her hot breath on his neck was heaven. She was perfect and he hated knowing in a couple days she would go back to her dorm room and he would have to sleep alone most nights of the week. He was so used to being cuddled in the middle of his bed with her, both their heads on the same pillow, that he wasn't sure he could even sleep alone anymore.

Sunday rolled around and Elizabeth decided to go all out to make sure Henry would be unable to resist her. She put on a slinky black dress that accentuated every small curve she had and decided to brave a pair of high heels even though it was cold outside.

Henry showed up at her door and when she opened it he was pretty sure his eyes bulged out of his head like he was a cartoon character. He thought she was gorgeous even in sweats but this dress was making his pants uncomfortably tight. He shook himself out of his stupor and managed to string together a coherent sentence. "Elizabeth…you look stunning."

She was grinning like a maniac; she knew exactly what she was doing to him. "You don't look so bad yourself. Let me get my coat and I'm ready to go."

Henry watched her walk to her closet, her hips swaying in the most delicious way. He knew exactly what she was trying to do to him and he silently thanked himself for thinking ahead enough to purchase a box of condoms.

Their dinner was wonderful and although Henry kept asking if Elizabeth wanted to do something after she was insistent that they head immediately back to his apartment.

The minute they walked in the door Elizabeth was all over him as she pushed him toward the sofa. They fumbled over books on the floor and crashed onto the sofa laughing. Elizabeth straddled Henry and as they started making out, his hands moved down to her thighs and started slowly running up and taking her dress with them. Her hands weren't idle either as they swiftly made their way down his chest unbuttoning his oxford.

Henry pulled her dress over her head and groaned when he saw the sexy underwear she was wearing. A gorgeous pair of lacy black underwear and a matching bra that seemed to make her golden skin glow.

Elizabeth smiled down at him; he was having exactly the reaction she had hoped for. "Bedroom?" She whispered, her voice husky and thick.

Henry pulled back a little bit so he could look her in the eyes. They usually ended up in the bedroom but something in her voice was different. He knew exactly what she wanted, "Are you sure?"

Elizabeth grinned and nodded, "I'm absolutely one hundred and ten percent sure."

Henry sat up and scooped Elizabeth off his lap and into his arms. This was finally happening and he was going to make sure it was a night she would never forget.

A while later they were curled together in Henry's bed, both completely spent. They kissed languidly as they both fought to keep their eyes open, not wanting the night to end.

"That was incredible," Henry whispered between kisses.

Elizabeth blushed, "That was more than incredible…that was spectacular, remarkable, earth-shattering…" she trailed off, still unable to form much of a coherent thought.

Henry laughed, "Worth the wait?"

Elizabeth grinned, "You're always worth the wait Lieutenant McCord."

"As are you, Miss Adams." Henry said as he pulled her closer and tucked them tenderly under the covers. He then kissed her forehead with so much tenderness she was positive she was falling completely, irrevocably in love with him.

He made sure she was tucked in and cozy and he ran a hand along her cheek, "You okay?"

She smiled; he was so kind and thoughtful. "I'm wonderful, I promise you." She paused, unsure if she should tell him what she was thinking but then realizing she wanted to tell him this because she wanted to tell him everything. They communicated so well and she loved that, "I'm pretty sure that was the first time I ever had an…orgasm. Well, technically the first and second time."

Henry looked at her wide-eyed, " _Pretty sure_?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Okay, I'm positive I've never had an orgasm before this."

Henry looked shocked; "So your high school boyfriends never managed to…" he trailed off, still seemingly in disbelief.

Elizabeth shrugged, "No, honestly I always thought there was something wrong with me, yeah sex felt fine but it wasn't great. I mean, it's not like I've had a lot of practice."

"So, I'm the only man who has ever given you an orgasm?" Henry's eyes seemed to light up with manly pride at this sentence.

Elizabeth laughed, "Looks like it, I guess you're pretty great Henry McCord."

Henry leaned in to give her a light peck on the lips, "I think we're just great together."

Elizabeth blushed, "You might be right about that." With that she let out a huge yawn, she was exhausted.

Henry chuckled, "Go to sleep gorgeous." He kissed her forehead and pulled her even closer. She relaxed in his strong arms and she shut her eyes, being this happy was so new to her and she really liked it.

The next morning Elizabeth woke up warm and cozy cuddled next to Henry. She didn't want to move from under the covers because she knew the minute she did she would freeze but even more than that she just didn't want to leave the sanctuary of his arms.

After a few minutes he started to stir and then slowly opened his eyes. He caught sight of her and couldn't stop from smiling. "Good morning, babe."

Elizabeth blushed, she didn't quite understand why, but she loved it when he called her babe. She had been vehemently opposed to cute pet names of the sort with her previous two boyfriends. If they had ever tried to call her babe or sweetie or honey or anything of the sort she shot a comment about sexism toward them. But with Henry it was different, babe wasn't his way of trying to claim her. It wasn't about asserting male dominance. It was how he showed his affection for her—his unwavering, all-consuming affection. It was his little way of showing how much he cherished her.

"Good morning."

He leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips. When he pulled back he was still smiling like a maniac.

Elizabeth laughed, "What on earth is that look for?"

He shrugged, "Waking up with you is nice."

"We've woken up together every day for the last month." She teased.

He smiled and shook his head at her, "Yes, but you were fully clothed all of those times and I much prefer you like this."

She blushed at his mention of her lack of clothing and she tried to pull the sheet up closer to her neck.

But Henry didn't play fair and his hand went underneath the covers and started gently stroking her hip and thigh and pulled her closer to him.

Unfortunately they couldn't bring this any further because it was Monday and Henry had a pre-semester meeting with Professor Maxwell.

She smiled, "Don't you have a meeting to get to?"

He groaned, "I almost forgot." He looked at her and sighed, "I shouldn't be more than an hour. Will you wait here for me?"

Elizabeth blushed profusely and nodded, "Of course."

Henry's face brightened up at the prospect of coming back to a bed with her in it. He leaned down and kissed her softly before jumping out of bed.

She squealed when he got up, "Oh my god, it's freezing in here!"

He laughed as he quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater. He then rummaged around for some sweats for her to wear. He pulled out a black Marine Corps sweatshirt and a pair of plaid pajama pants and tossed them over to her. "Those should help keep you warm until I'm back. I'll turn up the heat a bit too. I know they said chilly weather for the week but I didn't expect it to get so damn cold again."

She smiled and grabbed the clothing gratefully, "My hero."

He put on his coat and scarf and watched as she adorably tried to put the pants and sweatshirt on while staying under the covers and he couldn't resist walking over to her and messing with her. He sat down on the edge of the bed and he pulled the covers down as she tried to pull the pants on.

She squealed and caught the sheet, pulling it over herself. Henry tackled her back onto the bed and she couldn't stop giggling. He started kissing her neck and his hands made their way to her torso. "You do realize that it's useless to try to hide because I've now seen all of you and your beautiful body will be seared into my memory until the day I die?"

Elizabeth blushed, "Right back at you, handsome."

He grinned at her and dove in for another passionate kiss.

After a few minutes she managed to push him away, "Get going Lieutenant, don't start something you can't finish."

He begrudgingly backed away from her and he couldn't help but stare at her—hair a mess on the pillow, skin flush, and her radiant smile just for him. "You are so beautiful." He said, running his hand over her collarbone.

She blushed a shade of crimson and grinned at him, "Go!"

He leaned down to kiss her one last time, "I'll see you in a bit, babe. I love you." With that he got up, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door.

She just lay there, frozen to her spot. Did he really just tell her he loved her? He had never said that before and she had been caught so off guard that she hadn't even been able to respond. She finally shook herself out of her stupor and she grabbed his sweatshirt and put it on. She snuggled into the sweatshirt. It smelled a little like soap and a little like Henry. She sighed, Henry, he loved her and that thought made her happier than anything in her entire life had ever made her feel.

She wanted—no needed—him to come back. She had to tell him she loved him too. She suddenly had an idea and jumped out of bed.

Meanwhile, as Henry headed to his meeting his mind was racing with the words he had accidentally uttered. He hadn't even realized he had said them until he walked out of his apartment. He had meant it—obviously he had meant it—she was incredible. But he had planned on saying it over a romantic dinner or on a romantic blanket under the stars. He hadn't planned on saying it on a whim, especially after the first time they had sex. He groaned, god he hoped she didn't think he had said it just because they had sex.

When he was finished with his meeting he practically ran back to his apartment and said a quick prayer that she was still there. He walked through the door and was relieved when he saw Elizabeth running around the kitchen, knowing he hadn't scared her off.

"Hey babe," He said, getting her attention.

She turned to him and grinned, "Hey." He suddenly smelled something delicious, "Are those pancakes?"

She nodded, "They're literally the only thing I can make, although they're not nearly as good as yours."

He smiled and stepped toward her, wrapping his arms around her torso and burying his head in the crook of her neck. He felt that urge again; the urge to tell her he loved her.

Luckily she spoke first, pulling away from him so she could look him in the eyes, "Hey, um you sort of left this morning before I could say something to you."

Henry raised his eyebrows, could she really be about to say what he thought she was going to say? "You mean right after I said something to you that I very much meant but maybe should have waited for a better time to say?"

Elizabeth smiled, "It was the perfect time. I love you too."

Henry was beaming, he couldn't remember ever being happier in his entire life. "I love you so much, babe." He said before pulling her closer to him and kissing her as if his life depended on it.

"I just didn't want you to think I said it because we had sex. Obviously that was incredible but my confession wasn't some heat of the moment thing. I meant it with all my heart. I've loved you for months."

Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Months?" They had only been dating for just over two months.

"Months." Henry confirmed, not a sliver of doubt in his voice.

"Me too," she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they finished up Elizabeth's pancakes and at them together, joking around at Elizabeth's dismal cooking ability.

As they were finishing up Elizabeth spotted some maple syrup on Henry's lip. "Hey babe, you just have a little something…" and with that she dove in for a kiss. It heated up rather quickly and before she knew it she felt that unfamiliar form of desire pooling inside her. Elizabeth had never wanted anyone the way she wanted Henry.

* * *

Two firsts for these two (three for Elizabeth hehe)! Thanks sooooo much for reading and please leave me a review. It fuels my writing fire. xx J


	10. Chapter 10

Spending all month at Henry's apartment had downright spoiled Elizabeth. She liked living with Norah, but the tiny dorm room suddenly felt suffocating. Not to mention she missed sleeping with Henry. It wasn't even that her tiny dorm room bed was hard and uncomfortable, it was that she had grown accustomed to falling asleep with Henry's arms wrapped around her, their legs tangled together, and his hot breath against her shoulder.

She felt silly about it, but leaving Henry's apartment on Tuesday had been a mild form of torture. Then once she had gotten back she had realized a large portion of her clothes were still at Henry's. She hadn't really registered just how comfortable she had gotten over there.

Her second night back at the dorm was worse than her first. She just couldn't get comfortable. Her body pillow was certainly no proper substitute for Henry.

Suddenly Norah sat up in her bed and turned her light on, "All right Lizzy, what is going on with you?"

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut; the bright light was not a welcome intrusion. She lay there for a minute, letting herself adjust and then she sat up and sighed. "I'm sorry, I just can't get comfortable."

Norah grinned, "Because you miss Henry?"

Elizabeth felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she pursed her lips and nodded, hating that she was too tired not to give Norah this immediate satisfaction.

"So since you're a jerk and only called me twice over break and then refused to give me any details, I think now that you're keeping me up you owe me some information." Norah teased.

Elizabeth laughed. She did owe Norah some details. Her friend had shown major restraint the last two days in not badgering Elizabeth about Henry too much. Even when Henry had insisted on taking both Elizabeth and Norah out to dinner to celebrate their first day back at school she had shown impressive restraint and hadn't asked Henry anything too personal. "Okay, you're right. Ask me whatever you want?"

Norah's eyes lit up. She wasn't about to ask her friend why she was suddenly being so forthcoming; she wasn't going to give her the opportunity to change her mind. "Okay, you finally had sex, didn't you? The way you two kept looking at each other through dinner the other day was even more nauseating than usual and you couldn't keep your hands off each other."

Elizabeth blushed even brighter and covered her face. "Yes," she said, unable to hide the giddiness in her voice, "we finally had sex."

Norah squealed, "Oh my god, how was it? Is that all you two did over break? What else is there to do around here during winter anyway!"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, we actually didn't have sex until Sunday night."

Norah's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of her head. "So what you're saying is you two practically lived together for a month and didn't have sex almost the entire time?"

Elizabeth laughed, "Believe me, I tried to get in his pants all month. But he wanted it to be special and well...lets just say it was worth the wait."

"Okay, you cannot just leave it at that! I need some details to tide me over?! You know I'm getting nothing for myself at the moment!"

"Okay, it was...incredible. Nothing like I've ever experienced before. It just felt...right." She sighed, her hand on her chest as her heartbeat sped up at just the thought of Henry.

Norah couldn't stop smiling at her friend. "Please tell me you're past the point of denying you're in love with the guy because it's so painfully obvious now."

Elizabeth shook her head, pursing her lips so she wasn't grinning like an absolute idiot in love.

Of course Norah saw right through. "Oh. My. God. You told him you love him! Who said it first? Did Henry make a big to-do of it? He seems like the kind of guy who would. Spill!"

"No, it wasn't like that at all. It was simple and organic and truly it was perfect. It was Monday morning, the morning after we first had sex, and he had a quick meeting to get to and as he was leaving he kissed me, told me he'd be back soon and that he loved me. He walked out of the apartment before I think either of us registered what had even happened. I kind of thought I would freak out about it but I didn't. I was just mad at myself that I let him walk out the door without saying it back. Then we he got back I said it to him." She paused. "And then we had sex on his kitchen counter. There was syrup involved."

Norah slumped over on her bed, trying her hardest not to laugh too loudly since it was the middle of the night. She finally calmed down and sat back up. "Elizabeth Adams, I knew you had a freaky side!" After that both girls started laughing hysterically into their pillows in minor attempts to not wake up their neighbors.

"Seriously though Lizzy, I'm really happy for you. Henry is one in a million and you deserve that. And just so you know, you're not going to offend me if you want to spend a few nights a week at Henry's. You can always bring him here too but I don't know how well you guys would do on that little bed. And no offense, but I don't really want to accidentally witness anything freaky."

Elizabeth laughed, "I appreciate the offer but I think we'll stick to Henry's apartment. I don't think the small bed would bother us but I'm pretty sure Henry would want to keep room for the Holy Ghost if you were in the room so I don't think you have to worry about the sex."

The girls talked for a bit longer and then both fell asleep. Elizabeth felt sort of like a weight was lifted off her, happy someone else finally knew exactly how she felt about Henry. It was freeing in a way.

The next day the girls went out with their friends and Henry did the same with his. By the end of the night all Elizabeth wanted to do was see Henry. She took a cab back to his apartment and let herself inside. She had intended to leave the spare key he had given her over winter break back to him, but when she had left to go back to her dorm room she found she couldn't bring herself to part with it.

Elizabeth stumbled into his apartment and found Henry at his counter chugging a large glass of water.

He immediately set it down and ran over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and their lips met in a sloppy but passionate kiss.

Elizabeth pulled back after a minute, "Enjoying the whiskey tonight?"

Henry laughed and nodded, "I certainly did. As for you..." He swooped in and kissed her once more but pulled away far too quickly for her liking. She growled at him but he just laughed, "Tequila?"

She giggled, "Yes, I've enjoyed my share of tequila tonight but right now what I'd most enjoy is getting you out of your pants."

Henry laughed as she pulled him by his belt into his bedroom. "Babe, maybe we shouldn't do this, I think we're both pretty drunk."

Elizabeth turned around, "Henry, this is all I've been thinking about since Tuesday. Tequila has nothing to do with it."

Henry laughed and followed her into the room. He felt the same way.

The next morning Henry woke up and realized he and Elizabeth were both sleeping the opposite way on the bed. He tried to sit up and felt his head pound a little bit. He looked around the room. His bedding and their clothing was everywhere. Elizabeth's bra was hanging off a pile of theology books on his desk and his boxers had somehow landed on the lamp next to his bed. He looked over at Elizabeth. They were tangled together in a bed sheet that barely covered anything on either of them. Elizabeth's leg was in between Henry's and her arms were flung out over the bed, one of them under Henry's head. The sunlight poured in the window, illuminating her flawless skin and Henry couldn't help but prop his head up and stare at her.

After a little while she started to stir and Henry leaned over to place a chaste kiss on her lips. A smile appeared on her face and she blinked her eyes open and turned toward him.

"Hey beautiful," he said, running a hand through her messy hair.

She grinned and leaned in to kiss him again, "Good morning handsome." She reached forward and ran her hand through his hair. "It's unfair sex hair looks great on you while it makes me looks like I've escaped from an asylum."

Henry burst out laughing, "No, it's adorable."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "You don't need to flatter me. I'm already naked."

Henry just laughed as Elizabeth jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She sat down and her eyes bulged when she caught a glimpse of her inner thighs.

When she was finished she walked back into the room and saw that a pillow was on the ground next to the bed and picked it up and proceeded to beat Henry with it, "Henry McCord I am going to kill you!"

Henry could not stop laughing as her beating him with a pillow turned into a full on pillow fight which ended with him pinning her to the bed and both of them laughing so hard they were practically in tears. "Okay, why are you going to kill me?"

"Look between my legs."

Henry raised his eyebrows, "This feels like a trick aimed to distract me."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "I swear to god it's not."

Henry decided to trust her and got off of her so he could look." He immediately caught a glimpse of what she was talking about. "Whoops!"

Elizabeth sat up and smacked him playfully on the arm. "I cannot believe you gave me hickeys on my inner thighs, you ass!"

"Oww! It's not like anyone besides me is ever going to see them!"

"Still, I think I should get some retribution."

Henry frowned and leaned away from her. He held out his hand in front of him, putting at least an arm between them, he knew what she was thinking. "No."

When he leaned back the light hit him differently and Elizabeth noticed a similar spot on his neck. "Or maybe I already did."

Henry's face dropped and he jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. "Oh my god, Elizabeth!"

She was rolling on the bed laughing by the time he came back. "It's not funny! Yours are on your legs and mine is perfectly visible for everyone to see on my neck!"

She shrugged and tried to stifle another laugh, "Just wear a scarf."

"Oh yeah, that will look sooo normal when I'm teaching."

Elizabeth couldn't stop herself this time when she let out a shriek of laughter. Henry just watched her and tried not to laugh himself but he couldn't help it. He lay down beside her and pulled her close. "You are crazy and I love you."

Elizabeth smiled, "I love you too." She said as she nuzzled her head into the crook of Henry's neck. "I can try to cover it with makeup if you'd like?"

Henry laughed, "We'll see how bad it still looks on Monday." He settled his head against hers and traced his fingers along her gorgeous bare back.

"Hey um, I'm sorry I kept your key and used it last night." Elizabeth said, happy he couldn't see her face at the moment. She felt a little silly bringing this up but she needed to know for sure if he was okay with her keeping the key or not.

Henry frowned, "What are you talking about? That's exactly why I gave you a key."

Elizabeth pulled away enough to look at him while they were talking. "Well, you left it for me over break so I could stay here instead of my dorm and I just figured you probably wanted it back since break is over and I'm back in my dorm and everything."

Henry smiled, "Babe, that key is yours. You can give it back if it makes you uncomfortable but I'd really like it if you kept it."

Elizabeth smiled at him. She felt a wave of relief rush over her body. "I'd like to keep it too."

A few hours later they had made a quick breakfast and just ended up back in bed. It was colder than usual for February in Charlottesville so neither one of them particularly wanted to venture outside.

Henry had put on a record and they both just enjoyed their time being lazy in bed. Elizabeth had her eyes closed and her head was resting on Henry's chest. Their fingers were intertwined and Henry's free hand rested on Elizabeth's hip. They were content and comfortable and happy to stay in this exact position all day.

Elizabeth smiled at the comforting crackle of the record as it switched to the next song. The familiar tune filled the air and she sighed, "I love this song."

Henry smiled and let the music fill his ears; it was one of his favorites too. "Try to realize it's all within yourself, no one else can make you change, and to see you're really only very small, and life flows on within you and without you."

He stopped as quickly as he started and Elizabeth propped herself up so she could look him in the eye, "Why did you stop? That was lovely."

Henry smiled and shrugged, "I don't usually sing in front of people."

Elizabeth crawled up his body, resting her forearms on his chest so she could look him in the eye. "So what makes me so special?" She said, her eyes twinkling as she teased him.

He laughed, "I think you know what makes you so special." He reached up to run a hand through her hair and then gently pulled her down so he could kiss her.

She kissed him softly before pulling back so their lips were barely touching, "Maybe I know but that doesn't mean it isn't nice to hear."

"You're special because you are the craziest, most brilliant, maddening, spectacular woman I've ever met and I love you."

Elizabeth couldn't stop the goofy grin from forming on her face. "I love you too. Thank you for singing for me. Will you do it again sometime?"

"Only for you."

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed this! Sorry it's a little shorter than usual. I had a hard time writing it. I needed a bridge chapter before a small time-jump but I didn't want to make it totally insignificant. I feel like in each chapter I need them to move forward just a bit so I hope I accomplished that here because it was a struggle. Thank you SO much for reading. I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. Please leave me a review, I'm basically Chandler Bing…"I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love!"


	11. Chapter 11

Elizabeth and Henry settled into an effortless rhythm during spring semester. Norah had found a boyfriend so Elizabeth didn't feel guilty about her frequent nights spent at Henry's apartment. She was starting to feel at home at Henry's apartment. It was a funny feeling considering she hadn't truly felt at home anywhere since she'd been sent to boarding school as a child. It wasn't really the apartment though. It was Henry. She felt at home with Henry.

It was mid afternoon one early day in March and Henry and Elizabeth were curled up on Henry's sofa reading. Her legs were draped across his lap and his arm was draped over her softly stroking her leg. It was so domestic and she loved it. She put her book down; she couldn't resist staring at him. He was engrossed in his book and she found his concentration unbelievably hot. Then there was the way his fingers trailed up and down her leg. The combination of everything was getting her all hot and bothered.

She leaned forward and wrapped her hand around his strong bicep and rested her head on his shoulder. After a minute he turned to kiss her on the top of her head, "Bored with Kafka already?"

Elizabeth chuckled, "If by already you mean ever since the first word of the book then yes." She reached her hand across his chest and started fiddling with the buttons on his flannel shirt.

Henry raised his eyebrows and turned to her, "Something you're interested in, Miss Adams?"

Elizabeth swung her legs off his lap in one swift motion and giggled as she moved to kneel next to him. She grabbed the book out of his hand and placed it on the table.

Henry attempted to pretend he was oblivious to what she was trying to do, "Elizabeth if you're bored we can take a study break, maybe head out for some coffee…" he trailed off as she straddled him and started to kiss her way down his jaw until their lips met and he forgot what he was trying to do entirely.

A little while later Elizabeth clung to Henry, her arms wrapped around his body and her hand running through his hair as she lazily kissed his neck. She was still on his lap and she didn't think she had the strength to move.

Henry could barely keep his eyes open, she had thoroughly worn him out. He stood up and Elizabeth dropped her legs to the floor and slid off of him. When she took a step backward she stumbled on her wobbly legs but of course Henry caught her.

He laughed at her and helped her steady herself. "Come on, I think we both deserve a nap." He said, catching her off guard as he scooped her into his arms.

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Henry McCord was truly the perfect man. He brought her into the bedroom, tucked her into bed and crawled in next to her wrapping his arms tightly around her body as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

They just stayed like that for a little while until Elizabeth broke the comfortable silence, "You know, you're really good at that…sex before us…was is…" she trailed off, a little nervous about asking this question.

"Like this?" Henry finished. He knew exactly what she meant. He smiled at her and ran a hand through her messy hair. "No, it was never like this. I had feelings for both of the other women, feelings I thought at the time could have progressed to love, but I was wrong. Those feeling were just a heavy like, they weren't love and they never would have progressed to love."

Elizabeth laughed, "A heavy like?"

Henry grinned and shrugged, "Yeah, both of them-Maggie and Chelsea-were great people, I cared about them and I enjoyed the time we spent together but I wasn't in love with either of them. I didn't miss them when we were apart or think about them non-stop. We were just friends who tried to make something more where there wasn't anything. Then I met you and I just knew love wasn't something that you grew into, it was a completely different feeling."

Elizabeth felt her cheeks get flush, "You didn't know that from the moment you met me."

Henry grinned, "I did, you were like this beacon calling to me. I couldn't take my eyes off you. Then you started talking and I knew that the brilliant, stunning woman in front of me was someone special. I have never felt about anyone the way that I feel about you."

Elizabeth leaned in and kissed him, "I feel the same way."

Henry ran a hand through her hair, "You know, you're very good at that too."

Elizabeth blushed and looked away from him, "You're just saying that."

Henry reached over and grabbed her chin gently and turned her face back toward him, "I'm not just saying that. We are good at this because we're doing it together, because we love each other."

This time Elizabeth wasn't shy, she knew he was right, they loved each other and that was what made it so spectacular.

All of a sudden Henry's phone started ringing and he groaned and buried his head in her shoulder.

Elizabeth started to laugh, "What are you doing? Get up and answer it!" She playfully shoved him off of her.

Henry shook his head like he was a little boy, "No, I don't want to talk to anyone but you."

Elizabeth grinned, "Well, I can't argue with that."

The phone finally stopped ringing and the answering machine picked up. Henry's mother started talking, "Henry, sweetheart it's Mom. Just calling to check up on you and see how your paper went. You don't have to call me back right away, just call me on Sunday for our usual talk. Are you planning on coming home over break or are you planning on doing something with Elizabeth?" Henry's eyes grew wide at the mention of Elizabeth's name, god he hoped his mother didn't embarrass him. "You know, you promised you'd bring her home sometime and I'd really love to meet her, maybe you could bring her home some weekend? The way you talk about her, I can tell how special she is to you. I'd really love to meet her, sweetheart. Well, I'll get going. I love you and I'll speak to you soon."

Henry felt his cheeks getting red. He obviously hadn't told Elizabeth he talked to his mother about her.

He looked over at Elizabeth and she was grinning, "You talk to your Mom about me?"

"Of course I talk to my Mom about you. I love you. I want to brag about how amazing you are to everyone." Henry said as he leaned in to kiss her playfully on the nose. "Speaking of spring break…do you have any plans yet?"

Elizabeth grinned, "I was thinking about going back home. The horses will be back for the summer so I was thinking about doing some riding." She paused, suddenly a little unsure of herself, "I um, I was thinking about asking you to come back with me."

Henry felt his heart soar at her words; she wanted him to come home with her. "Well…if you're still thinking about asking I would be inclined to say yes."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up, "Are you sure you don't want to go home? I don't want to keep you from your family?"

Henry sighed and reached out to tenderly tuck her beautiful blonde hair behind her ear. He wanted to tell her that she was his family now but he didn't want to scare her off. "I'm sure. I want to spend it with you. We can go to Pittsburgh some other weekend. Believe me, you don't want to spend an entire week with my family. Maybe my Mom, she would be fine but as for the rest of them, well I'd like to keep you around for a while and I don't want them to scare you off."

"I'm sure they aren't _that_ bad."

Henry tried not to roll his eyes, "Oh babe, you have no idea! Seriously, we can go up for a night or two but I've got to ease you into spending time with them."

"Okay, that sounds like a plan. But you're sure you want to spend all of spring break with me?"

Henry rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, "Babe, there's _nothing_ I'd rather be doing."

Elizabeth blushed, Henry had a way of making her feel like the only person in the universe and she loved him for that.

A few weeks later Elizabeth and Henry made their way to Elizabeth's childhood home. Henry had been absolutely baffled by the house. He knew her family had been well off but he had underestimated just how well off. The house was a beautiful Greek revival with two story columns decorating the gorgeous wrap around porch. The inside of the house boasted vaulted ceilings, dark wood floors, and floor to ceiling windows looking out over the stables and the large pond on the property. Even the road leading up to the house was gorgeous. Driving through the magnificent trees had almost felt like they were falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

Elizabeth gave him a tour of the massive home and she ended the tour in her childhood bedroom. It felt a little like a time capsule of Elizabeth as a child since she hadn't spent much time there since she was twelve years old. She had a beautiful, white full-size canopy bed and all her furniture was a beautiful shade of light blue. There was a whole bulletin board filled with ribbons from equestrian shows, pictures of her family and friends were everywhere, and most intriguing to Henry there were books everywhere. As Elizabeth showed him her childhood treasures he felt so privileged to be allowed this special window into the part of her she so rarely shared.

They settled on her bed, going through a photo album of Elizabeth and her family when she was a small girl. Henry reached back to adjust the pillows and could not stop laughing.

"What the heck are you laughing about?" Elizabeth asked, completely confused.

"You have horse bed sheets. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to love you more but this just proved me wrong."

Elizabeth blushed and pulled the pillow away from Henry. Rose, their former nanny and housekeeper, still took care of the house and she knew Elizabeth loved those sheets. "If you're going to make fun of them, you can sleep in a guest room." She said, pretending to be offended.

"No! I love them. I swear. It's so cool to see what you were like when you were a kid. Seeing this side of you is wonderful and I'm really grateful and honored you trust me enough to show me."

Elizabeth blushed an even deeper shade of red and leaned in so her lips were hovering over Henry's. "Thank you for coming back with me. This house doesn't feel so haunted with you here." She didn't even give him time to respond, she just dove in for a passionate kiss. She hadn't been this happy to be home in a long time and that was all because of Henry.

The next day they got up early to ride and Elizabeth was more than a little excited. She was happy to teach Henry everything he needed to know and she was more than a little impressed when Henry caught on to everything with ease.

They were getting ready for bed at the end of the night, having spent most of the day on the trails. "I'm impressed at how well you handled Ziggy today." Elizabeth said to Henry as she walked out of the bathroom. He was lying on her bed with his nose in a book. He looked so cute with his glasses on as he focused on what he was reading.

He looked up at her and smiled, "Well, my Mom took me once or twice." He turned to place his book on the bedside table and he got out of bed and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She was wearing a thin knit robe and he saw a little lace peaking out underneath.

He bent down to capture her lips with his own and her hands ventured forward to the tie on her robe. She undid it and Henry pulled back and got a glimpse of the nightgown she was wearing. It was nude colored and sheer with light pink flowers placed in very specific areas and a matching pair of the tiniest underwear he'd ever seen. The nude fabric looked beautiful against her olive skin and her gorgeous hair cascaded down her front framing her perfect breasts.

"You're beautiful." Henry whispered, closing the gap between them once again as his lips found her neck.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, " _Henry_ " she whispered, her voice breathy and low.

He gently pushed her robe off her shoulders and watched it drop to the floor. He was certain in this moment he'd never get enough of this incredible woman.

The next morning the sunlight rolled into the room and for a moment Henry forgot where they were. He looked around and smiled when he remembered they were in Elizabeth's childhood bedroom. He turned back to look at her. She was still fast asleep, her body half over his and her head buried in his shoulder. She was absolutely gorgeous. He loved waking up with her, their naked bodies pressed against each other because even as they slept they were drawn to each other. He ran his hand down her slim shoulder and he smiled. He had known this was how he wanted to wake up every day for the rest of his life since the first morning he woke up with her. She was his whole world. He finally understood what it meant to trust someone with your whole heart.

They decided to go riding in the afternoon but they wanted to spend the entire morning consumed with each other. That meant a whole lot of naked time. It was strangely liberating to walk around the enormous house without clothes and it made for a morning full of laughter for the happy couple. They did everything naked: they ate breakfast naked, they licked syrup off each other's bodies, they showered together and they made love on the sofa in the family room in front of the floor to ceiling windows without a care in the world and had fallen asleep afterward. They were tangled together on the sofa, a thin blanket barely covering them, when they both were abruptly woken by a new voice.

"Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy," the voice said in a singsong tone.

Elizabeth blinked her eyes open and gasped when she saw who was there. Henry was still draped over her and she couldn't move easily. She nudged him a little and he started to wake up. Once he realized they weren't alone his hands shot down to the sheet to make sure it was covering everything it needed to cover.

Elizabeth sat up as best she could, clutching the sheet tightly to her chest. "Will," she hissed, "what are you doing here?"

Will raised his eyebrows in amusement, "I am here because I wrongly assumed my little sister would be spending her spring break alone. Apparently I was _very_ wrong."

Henry couldn't look at Will; he just kept staring at Elizabeth, wide-eyed and embarrassed.

Elizabeth shot him an apologetic look. "Will this is my boyfriend, Henry. Henry, this is my big brother, Will."

* * *

This chapter almost killed me. I've been insanely busy and knocking this out was a _very_ late night affair. It was supposed to be longer but I just didn't have the time to properly finish so Will's little visit will be continued in the next chapter.

I was overwhelmed with all the nice comments on the last chapter. Seriously, everything everyone said was so kind and encouraging and just made me so happy. I truly appreciate you taking the time to read this story and to leave me a review. Thank you thank you thank you. All the nice things you have to say warm my heart and I sincerely appreciate them. xx J


	12. Chapter 12

_Elizabeth shot him an apologetic look. "Will this is my boyfriend, Henry. Henry, this is my big brother, Will."_

Henry felt nauseous as he turned to Will, who looked thoroughly amused. "Nice to meet you." Henry said in his best attempt at normalcy.

Will nodded, "Same, pleasure to meet the famous Henry McCord. But I'd prefer if you two put your clothes on before we take this any further so I'm going to go grab my things from the car if you two would like to take that opportunity to get decent?" With that Will turned around and headed out of the house still laughing.

Elizabeth jumped up and in the process took the entire blanket with her. Henry yelped as the blanket left his body, leaving him completely naked on the sofa as she flew up the stairs. It took him a moment to realize he was still just sitting there naked before he bolted after her.

He was faster than her and caught up to her with ease and playfully tried to pull the blanket away from her. They ran into her bedroom and Henry quickly shut the door behind them. "I cannot believe you just about abandoned me butt-naked!"

"Will is my brother. If he sees you naked it's awkward but if he sees me naked, it's scarring!"

Henry couldn't stop laughing, she was probably right but that wasn't going to stop him from teasing her about it.

"Well...this was a great way to meet your brother. I'm sure he's going to have a very high opinion of the guy he met naked on the couch."

Elizabeth laughed and then gasped. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

Henry frowned, "What's wrong?"

Her face turned beet red. "We haven't cleaned up the kitchen yet."

Henry thought he was going to be sick to his stomach.

Elizabeth started pacing back and forth. "Oh my god, we didn't even clean up that spot where I sat in the powdered sugar, did we?"

Henry raised his eyebrows, "Well, I cleaned you up."

Elizabeth whipped a stuffed animal at him. "Henry, it's not funny!" But even as she spoke she was trying to contain her own laughter.

"Okay, let's just look on the bright side of this situation..." He trailed off.

Elizabeth waited for him to finish and after a minute threw her arms up in the air, "And the bright side is?"

Henry looked guilty, "I can't think of one."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and flung herself back on the bed. "Oh god. Well, its just Will. It's not like an actual adult caught us doing anything. I see the guy two to three times a year maximum; he gets no say in my dating life. And it isn't like he hasn't done way worse stuff than this. He has no right to judge. I'm almost 19 and I've been taking care of myself since I was 12 and I've done a pretty good job of it."

Henry sat down next to her and pulled her up so she could curl herself into his side. "I know babe, whatever happens, I'm here for you."

They got decent and headed back downstairs to find Will sitting in the living room on the chair across from the sofa. "I assume you two are planning on sanitizing the sofa when you clean the kitchen?" He jested, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

Henry felt his cheeks grow red and Elizabeth just rolled her eyes at her older brother. She tried to get a read on her older brother. He had a devious grin on his face so that probably meant he was going to tease them mercilessly about what he had walked in on but he didn't look upset.

"Shut up, Will. I thought you were busy this week. How come you just showed up randomly?"

"Well, I thought it would be nice for us to see each other. When you told me you were coming to the house for spring break you failed to mention you were bringing along your boyfriend."

"Yeah well we only talked about it for thirty seconds before you had to leave, when did I have time to bring it up?"

Will held up his hands, "Fine, that's fair." He turned to Henry. "Honestly Henry, it's nice to meet you. I just like giving Lizzy a hard time. She's told me a bit about you."

Henry was relieved to know Will didn't seem to hold anything against him and they all ended up talking for a while. Will did seem to enjoy teasing them about the compromising position he found them in but all in all he seemed to warm to Henry. At least that's what it felt like.

After a little while Will excused himself to go clean up after his long day of travel and take a nap before dinner.

Elizabeth turned to Henry after he left. "I don't know if you could tell under all that sarcasm, but he likes you. If he didn't like you he would have just been an ass."

Henry laughed, "That's good. You talk about me to him?"

Elizabeth blushed, "I mention you. We don't talk all that often so he knows I only mention people I really care about."

Henry felt his heart swell with pride, he knew how much she liked him-how much she loved him-but it was still nice to hear it every once in a while. He reached out and pulled her in for a hug, "I love you too. Now maybe we should go clean up and start on dinner?"

Later that night Will and Henry were cleaning up from dinner while Elizabeth was throwing all the linens they had managed to defile into the wash.

Henry felt he should take the opportunity to apologize for earlier.

"I have to apologize for the way you found us. That wasn't the best first impression and I hope it doesn't present me as someone who is disrespectful of Elizabeth because that couldn't be farther from the truth."

Will turned to Henry and smiled at the tense young man. "Henry, honestly you don't need to apologize. Lizzy never does anything she doesn't want to do and I have a feeling most-if not all-of that was her idea. If there's one thing my little sister gained from our parents death it was the ability to stand up for herself. And I don't think Lizzy would bring a guy here she wasn't serious about. Just finding you here was more shocking than finding you in the position I found you in." Suddenly, Will got serious, "Are you in love with my sister, Henry? Because from what I observe, she's in love with you."

Henry pursed his lips before he spoke, deciding flat out honesty was his best policy. "I am head over heels in love with your sister and by some miracle she's in love with me too."

Will stared at Henry for a moment and then he smiled. "I hope I see a lot more of you, Henry McCord."

Henry felt a breath escape his body he didn't know he was holding inside.

Just then Elizabeth walked back into the room. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of her brother and boyfriend smiling at each other. "What's going on here? This feels weird." She said through gritted teeth.

Will laughed, "I was just having a rare moment of sincerity and I told Henry that it's nice to see my little sister so happy."

Elizabeth shot Henry a confused look and he smiled and nodded at her, reassuring her Will was telling the truth. She walked over to Henry and wrapped an arm around his torso. "I'm very happy. Henry makes me very happy."

Will then announced he was going to leave Henry and Elizabeth to enjoy their night together and go into town for a drink. He was sure he could find a few of his old friends hanging around. Elizabeth didn't argue. She was of course happy to see him but she also didn't want to overwhelm Henry with her brother. He could be a lot to handle and Henry had already suffered through enough Will for one day.

Will spent two days with them before he had to head out for a stop in New York before he left for London. Elizabeth was sad to see him go and she promised she would see him over the summer, but she was also happy to have the next couple days alone with Henry.

As Will was leaving he stopped and pulled Henry to the side. "Do me a favor?"

Henry nodded, "What's the favor?"

"Take her to our parents grave. I don't think she's been since they died. She'll argue with you but she'll be glad she went."

"Okay, I can do that."

Elizabeth appeared back at Henry's side and Will smiled, "Honestly Henry, it was good to meet you. Keep treating my little sister right and I'd be thrilled to see more of you."

Henry laughed, "Easiest promise I've ever made."

"You're a good man, Henry McCord. Our Dad would have liked you."

Elizabeth blushed and went in to hug her brother. "Thanks for coming. It really was good to see you."

"You too Lizzy. I love you."

"I love you too." Elizabeth responded, feeling a little emotional now that Will was actually leaving. He drove her nuts but he was the only family she had left and she loved him.

Henry pulled her close as they watched Will walk into the airport. "Come on gorgeous, lets venture into town and get some lunch. I want to see where you grew up."

Henry had spent the afternoon trying to figure out how to ask Elizabeth to go to her parents' grave. He finally came to the conclusion that he couldn't lie to her about his motives or trick her into going. She deserved his honesty and that's what he was going to give her.

They were lounging on the sofa in the family room, curled together and watching a movie. Henry figured right now was a good time to ask her. "Babe, can I talk to you about something?"

Elizabeth's head was resting on Henry's chest and she turned so she could look up at him. "Of course, what's going on?"

"Will wants me to take you to your parents grave." Henry said. He figured sugar coating it would only piss her off.

He felt her tense up immediately and she sat upright. "Why would he ask you do that?"

Henry sat up and reached for her hand. "He told me you haven't gone since they died. He thinks it will be good for you."

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head, "Will has no idea what's best for me. He sees me a few times a year and he sees everything through his tunnel vision."

"Babe, I know I don't have the right to agree with Will but I'm going to do it anyway. Going to their grave might be cathartic. I'll go with you. If we get there and you don't want to be there we can leave immediately. Elizabeth, I love you and I know this is never going to be something that's okay, I just want you to have some peace. I think this would be a good thing."

Elizabeth pursed her lips. She wanted to yell at Henry and tell him he was right, he had no right to agree with Will and he had no right to ask her to do this…but she couldn't. Henry wasn't doing this for Will or because he thought he knew what was best for her. He was doing this because he loved her, plain and simple, the only reason that truly mattered.

She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head. "Okay, we can go but I can't promise anything."

"You don't have to promise anything. This isn't about me. It's about you. Nothing is ever going to make your loss better but you deserve to have some peace and I think this might help you."

The next morning they decided to head out to the cemetery. Elizabeth had let Henry drive and she wasn't sure if it was the cool air or the haunting aura of the hallowed ground that was giving her goosebumps.

Her parents were buried in gothic style mausoleum. She had almost forgotten what it looked like. Will was right, she hadn't been there since the unveiling.

She stood in front of the mausoleum and found herself getting angry. She was angry at the world for robbing her of a life with her parents, angry they'd never meet the wonderful man she was sure she'd someday marry, angry their future children would never get to meet her parents. She had always let herself be sad, but had never really allowed herself to get angry before today. But then on top of that anger there was the sadness; there was always the sadness. It lurked behind her even at the happiest of times.

She reached out to trace the letters of her father's name. The stone was rough and cool against her soft skin and she felt the tears start to fall down her face.

Henry must have seen her start to cry because he instantly wrapped his arms around her. She sunk into his embrace; beyond grateful he was there with her.

"Henry, there's so much I want to say but it all seems so silly and trivial. And what's the point anyway? It's not like they can hear me."

Henry held her close, his hand tangled in her hair comforting her like she was a child. "You know, I think one of the biggest mistakes we make is the idea that everything we say should be profound. Speak from the heart, say what you feel. Who cares if it's cliché or seems trivial? What you say matters because you matter. I believe they can hear you. Obviously they're not here in physical form, but that doesn't mean they aren't here in spirit. You're here and I'm sure if they were here they'd be the first to tell you you're the best thing they ever did, so they are here. They're here because you're here."

Elizabeth held on tightly to Henry. She never wanted to let him go and she knew now what she wanted to say. She pulled away from Henry and she smiled when he wiped the tears from her eyes. She grabbed his hand and she turned around to face the mausoleum. She took a deep breath, "Mom, Dad this is Henry McCord and being with him, for the first time since you died...I feel whole again."

* * *

I apologize this is short again. I'm extremely busy and most of my writing time occurs between 11 PM and 3 AM lately. Don't worry though, I'm keeping to the schedule! The chapters might just be a little shorter for a few weeks!

Special thanks to G for the help I don't think she knows she gave me!

And THANK YOU to everyone reading. Seriously, I can't express how much I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. I was overwhelmed again by all the kind comments. Truly, they make my day so extra thanks to everyone who leaves me a review. You have no idea how much it means to me. x J


	13. Chapter 13

I'm back! My sincerest apologies this has taken me so long. My only excuse is just life! It's been crazy. Thanks so much for reading this & even more for sticking with me through my slow updating!

* * *

Spring break had been nothing short of magical, even with Will surprising them and the emotional weight of visiting her parents grave for the first time since their death. All of the private moments where they had been all consumed with each other, where they had been able to be completely vulnerable with each other, just made their bond even stronger.

Elizabeth hated leaving Henry after they arrived back at school Sunday night. He dropped her off at her dorm and their goodbye had been long and drawn out. Elizabeth was regretting telling Norah they would have a girls night unpacking and drinking cheap wine. She needed a night with her friend but being away from Henry at this point was becoming physically painful. Her goodbye with Henry ended up turning into a fairly heated make out session on her tiny dorm room bed and suddenly their clothes were in a pile on the floor. Norah wouldn't be back for a little while so they had time and Elizabeth of course had wanted to prolong his stay so she pointed out they had never had sex in her dorm room before and it would be a missed opportunity if they didn't take it.

Henry had never been one to back down from a challenge and soon enough they were lost in each other. The tiny dorm room bed didn't even prove to create an issue; they loved being as close as possible all the time and it was bigger than Henry's sofa and the one at her family home. Her dorm room bed was easy after they had managed to maneuver themselves, fairly frequently, on Henry's small sofa.

Norah ended up coming home a little early and was thoroughly entertained to find her roommate and her boyfriend snuggled together in bed.

Henry was thoroughly embarrassed and got dressed quickly to leave and Elizabeth still hated to see him go. She kissed him goodbye, "Thanks for this week, babe. I love you so much."

She felt Henry's smile against her lips, "I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow at lunch." Then he was gone and Elizabeth felt like part of her heart had left with him. But she would see him tomorrow and she didn't want to be the kind of girl who had to be around her boyfriend all the time.

Of course Norah wanted to know every detail of Elizabeth's spring break spent with Henry but she managed to placate her with the talk of how she and Henry had barely been able to keep their hands off each other for more than a few hours throughout the whole trip, she wasn't emotionally ready to tell her roommate about Henry meeting Will or going to her parents graves. Those were vulnerable subjects and she loved Norah but she wasn't ready to talk about them with anyone other than Henry right now.

She listened to Norah's crazy spring break stories and although she was glad her friend had a good time she was happy she had spent the week alone with Henry. She didn't need to do all that partying. Yes she was still young but she had to grow up a long time ago. Most of her partying had gotten out of her system in high school. She was in a happy, healthy relationship and she didn't regret for one minute missing out on the "traditional" crazy spring break.

After she and Norah had traded stories and downed some wine they started to unpack and clean up their dorm room a little bit. Elizabeth was putting away her clothing from the week and Norah was sorting her laundry when the subject of next year came up.

"Hey, I just remembered we have to fill out our housing request forms soon. I just want to formerly ask you whether or not you're going to live with Henry and I need to start looking for a new roommate." Norah asked as she continued casually sorting her clothing.

Elizabeth sort of froze in her spot and then pulled herself together and looked up at Norah and frowned, "Why would you think I'd be moving in with Henry?"

Norah made a big show out of rolling her eyes. "Because you basically already live with him."

She shook her head. That was ridiculous. "No, I don't live with him." She paused. "Do I?"

Norah opened her mouth and Elizabeth started waving her hands around. "Never mind don't answer that." She didn't need to do this right now. Things with Henry were already serious and she didn't need her brain to go into overdrive right now. Things were good and everything was fine.

Norah laughed, "It's fine Lizzy, it makes you the best roommate ever because when you're here I love you and when you're there I get my own space. Best of both worlds! Have you talked to Henry about living together?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, Henry has to deploy next year. I don't know if he's even keeping his apartment while he's away." She tried to be casual about what she was saying but truthfully it hurt her to actually vocalize. She and Henry had only casually discussed it a few times but it wasn't a conversation she looked forward to having.

Norah frowned. She had forgotten Henry would be deploying. "Oh, I'm so sorry Lizzy I forgot. I'll fill out our housing application. Don't worry about it." She paused. "I'm here for you, you know that right? I know I'm not Henry but I love you and you're going to survive him being away. You've got plenty of time before he leaves."

Elizabeth managed a small smile, "I know. I'll survive it. I just don't want to think about it."

Thankfully Norah had taken Elizabeth's cue and realized she didn't want to talk about Henry leaving so their conversation had been redirected to talk of Norah's boyfriend.

The next day Elizabeth managed to be normal but the idea of Henry deploying was still at the back of her mind.

She went over to Henry's apartment after they studied together at his office hours and although she tried to act like everything was fine Henry began to notice something was going on with her. He didn't want to pressure her into talking just yet and after they had gone to bed—Elizabeth exhausted and smiling from their extracurricular activities—he decided to broach the subject the next day.

Elizabeth fell asleep quickly enough and although she was comfortable and content in Henry's arms the nagging feeling in the back of her mind woke her up around two and she shifted herself in Henry's arms so she was facing him.

He instinctively pulled her closer to him as she shifted and it made her smile. Neither one of them slept well without the other and she really didn't know how they were going to deal with being apart for his deployment. She knew she wasn't going to get much sleep while he was away and that was for several big reasons.

She ran her hand through his hair. Henry wasn't a heavy sleeper but the soft touch of her palm against his skin wouldn't be enough to wake him. She studied his face as he slept. He really was beautiful; there was no denying that. But everyone could see his outer beauty, she was privileged enough to see his inner beauty as well.

Her hand traced down his forehead and cheek, his beautiful face calm and serene in his state of sleep, and her hand continued down his neck and shoulder to his strong biceps. Henry wasn't muscular in an over the top way but he was in amazing shape and he was fit and healthy in a way that was obvious to anyone who saw him. Even more obvious to anyone who saw him with his shirt off and these days she was the only one with that particular privilege. She traced the line of his bicep and she didn't notice when his eyes blinked open.

She first heard his yawn and she pulled her hand away immediately because she felt bad about possibly waking him up.

"Babe, why aren't you sleeping?" He murmured.

 _Crap._ She thought. She had woken him up and she felt really guilty about it. She ran a hand through his hair and kissed his cheek gently. "Go back to sleep, Henry. I'm fine."

Henry caught her hand with his own and pulled away from her, his sleepy eyes fighting to open. "No you're not. You've been weird all day. What's going on?"

Elizabeth sighed, she hated going into this topic at this early hour but there was no avoiding it now. She knew Henry would refuse to drop it until she talked to him. "I just keep thinking about how you're going to have to leave next spring and I know it's a ways off but it makes me sad."

Henry smiled and kissed the top of her head. He couldn't help but be a little happy that she was as certain as he was that they would still be together next year. "I'm so sorry I'm going to put you through all that. I hate to think of you worrying about me."

"I just need you to promise me you'll do everything in your power to come home safely."

"Of course I will. You think I'm going to leave you if I have the choice?"

Elizabeth looked up at him and smiled. She knew he meant every word he said but fate hadn't exactly been kind to her in the past.

Henry saw the sadness behind her eyes and knew there was nothing he could say right now to console her. He just had to come home.

They slipped back into their regular schedule with ease, but there was something different about everything. Elizabeth had always felt an intimacy with Henry she couldn't really explain, from the moment they first connected she had felt a kind of ease around him she hadn't felt with anyone, but after they spent spring break she felt what she hadn't felt in a long time: security. Everything wasn't always going to be hearts and roses but it didn't matter, at least it was going to be with Henry. That she was certain of.

The first weekend back at school Elizabeth and Norah were invited to their friend Christy's house for a girls night. There were about ten girls there and they were watching movies and gossiping and drinking-having a typical girls night sleepover. It was a lot of fun and even though Elizabeth didn't enjoy sleeping without Henry she was glad to spend a night with her girlfriends.

Elizabeth had gone to make another batch of margaritas and when she came back she entered into a conversation she wasn't fully prepared for.

"I feel like I'm faking it more often than I'm not." Her friend Cassie said.

"Oh I know! I've gotten so lazy at faking it lately too. It gets frustrating." Added Michelle.

Elizabeth set the pitcher of margaritas down on the table and started refilling everyone's cups before refilling her own. "What are you faking?" Elizabeth asked, completely confused as to what had just walked into.

"We're talking about faking orgasms. How often do you fake it?"

Elizabeth's eyes grew wide and unfortunately she was taking a sip of her margarita and she spat out her drink. "Faking orgasms?"

Cassie narrowed her eyes, "Yeah, come on, we've all done it."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Um, no, I don't fake orgasms,"

All the girls seemed to look at her in disbelief. Elizabeth shrugged, "What? I don't."

"You mean to tell me Henry makes sure you finish every single time you have sex?"

Elizabeth was now blushing profusely. "Is that…is that strange?"

Christy burst out laughing, "Elizabeth…that's insane! I mean…every single time?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips and nodded. She was so beyond embarrassed.

Norah was laughing along too, "I'm sorry Chris, but have you met Henry? Did you expect anything less?" Suddenly her eyes lit up, no doubt seeing this as an opportunity to get information out of Elizabeth. "He seems like he's really good with his hands. Want to give us some details Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth was fairly certain she was about to die from embarrassment. "Norah! I'm not telling you guys anything! It's private!"

"But this is a girls night Lizzy! None of us have amazing boyfriends like you so we have to live vicariously through you! And we need to go back to the orgasm thing. I need details. Are you seriously telling me you've never faked it with Henry?"

Elizabeth knew she wasn't going to get off the hook so she decided she would give them as few details as possible while still placating their need for knowledge of her and Henry's sex life. "I swear I've never faked it with Henry. He always makes sure I finish. I've never faked it before, although I realize what I was having with my other two boyfriends weren't orgasms, but I've still never faked one. I think Henry would probably know if I did. He's um…he's very good with um…making me orgasm no matter what he's doing." Elizabeth was sure her face was beet red and she felt hot and weird. This was so unbelievably awkward.

Unfortunately this admission only seemed to make the girls more interested so Elizabeth spent a while fielding questions and getting away with giving away as few details as possible.

The next morning Elizabeth made her way back to Henry's apartment. She was exhausted and hung over and needed more sleep but she had to see Henry. When she walked into his apartment he was sitting on the sofa with his nose buried in a book. She walked over to him and he set the book down and opened his arms to her. She was grateful for that because she immediately fell onto him and sunk into him. He wrapped his arms around her and she felt herself exhale deeply. She was happy to be home.

"Have a good night, babe?" He asked as he kissed her temple.

She smiled against his chest, "Yeah, it was fun. Illuminating actually."

Henry raised his eyebrows, "Illuminating?"

Elizabeth laughed and sat up so she was straddling his lap. "I found out that all of my friends have faked orgasms and apparently the fact that I haven't is extremely strange."

Henry's face grew red and Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry babe, I didn't give them too many details but they are all jealous that I've never faked an orgasm with you."

Henry just decided to bypass how awkward this made him feel because it also made him feel really good. "Of course I make sure you have an orgasm. The point of sex is to please you."

Elizabeth leaned in and kissed him, "I keep finding new reasons why you're the greatest. I love you, babe."

Henry pulled back, "I hope you remember that when I tell you what I'm about to tell you?"

Elizabeth frowned and pulled back from him a little, her hand firmly on his chest. "Well that doesn't sound good."

Henry laughed and squeezed her thigh reassuringly. "It's not that bad…it's just my Mom and Erin are coming into town next Friday. Erin wants to check out the school."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "So…you want me to meet your Mom and sister?"

Henry laughed, "I would very much like that. I just don't want to overwhelm you. It's just Mom and Erin though. Honestly they're the easiest two so it should be fine. I just want you to be sure you want to meet them."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, of course I want to meet your Mom and sister."

Henry's eyes lit up, "You're sure? I promise they'll be nice. My Mom is great and Erin is great and I swear you'll like them."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "I'm happy to meet them. I'm sure they're both great, especially your Mom. I mean, she raised you and that's saying something."

Henry couldn't stop grinning, "Are you saying you like me a little bit?" He teased.

Elizabeth smirked at him a shrugged, "Maybe just a little." She held up her fingers for emphasis.

"Just a little." He whispered against her lips as he pulled her to him once again.

Elizabeth just giggled and closed the gap between them.

The week flew by and by Thursday afternoon Elizabeth had managed to keep herself from panicking but somehow she ended up on the floor of Henry's apartment throwing clothing around.

Henry walked into the bedroom and leaned up against the door as he watched Elizabeth sitting on the floor throwing clothes into piles. "Babe, what are you doing?"

She turned around, looing extremely frustrated. "What the hell am I supposed to wear to meet my boyfriend's mother and sister? Is there some kind of dress code for this?"

Henry couldn't help but smile. She was so cute. He walked over to her and reached out to take her hand so he could pull her up. "It doesn't matter what you wear. They're going to love you because I love you. This is the easy part of meeting my family. Save your anxiety for when you have to meet my Dad and Maureen."

Elizabeth just started laughing, "Oh thanks _that_ sure makes me less anxious."

"Come on, let's just throw all this in the hamper and how about I make you dinner?"

Elizabeth nodded and wrapped her arm around his waist. "Pancakes?"

Henry laughed and pulled her toward the kitchen. "Absolutely."

He set out to start making dinner when there was a knock at the door. He and Elizabeth exchanged confused glances. "Were you expecting someone?"

Henry frowned, "No, were you?"

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, "Um, it's not my apartment so that would be weird…"

Henry just laughed and rolled his eyes, "Technicality. Can you get it?" He was juggling ingredients.

Elizabeth nodded and walked toward the door. She opened it without checking the peephole and was completely stunning when she opened it.

Henry's mother and sister stood on the other side of the door. His mother's eyes lit up and she had a huge smile on her face. "Oh, you must be Elizabeth!" She wasted no time throwing her arms around Elizabeth, who just stood there frozen. Ailis McCord pulled away from Elizabeth after a moment but kept her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. She smiled brightly and looked her up and down, "Oh Elizabeth, I'm so thrilled to finally meet you! You're even more gorgeous than your picture." And with that she wrapped Elizabeth up in her arms once again.

The hug felt foreign initially but after a moment Elizabeth sunk into it and it seemed like all at once she was suddenly much less nervous about meeting Henry's mother. "It's so nice to finally meet you too." She managed to spit out.

Henry appeared at the door and looked as surprised as Elizabeth was. "Mom, Erin…I thought you guys weren't coming until tomorrow morning?"

Ailis pulled away from Elizabeth, "Well it's good to see you too, Henry."

He blushed, "Mom, that's not what I meant."

She grinned and stepped forward to give him a hug. "I know, my sweet boy, I'm just giving you a hard time.

Elizabeth turned to Erin. "Hi Erin, it's nice to meet you."

Erin smiled, "You too, Elizabeth. It's good to finally put a face to the name."

Henry hugged Erin and said hello and ushered his mother and sister into the apartment.

"So what happened to coming tomorrow morning?" Henry asked as they all sat down in his living room.

Ailis shrugged, "We didn't want to take a chance that we'd be late and we wanted to spend some extra time with you."

He smiled, "I'm happy about that I just feel bad. Elizabeth and I were planning on cleaning up the apartment tonight. I'm not ready for you guys at all."

Ailis waved him off, "It's fine, sweetheart. You're not messy."

"Henry, can I use the bathroom?" Erin asked.

"Of course, into the bedroom and to the left." Henry instructed. He looked around the room nervously. His apartment wasn't messy, he had just wanted to put away some of the things that made it obvious that he and Elizabeth were practically living together. Like the delicate lace bras and underwear that were currently drip drying in his bathroom. Shit. Erin was going to get an eyeful and hopefully wouldn't say anything in front of their mother. He also would have liked to have double-checked his room for any rogue clothing they may have flung across the room in a heated moment, they tended to throw clothing everywhere and find it a week or so later in an unusual spot. He would have also preferred moving his stash of condoms into the back of his closet because even though they were in his bedside table drawer the thought of his mother opening it inconspicuously to find them there was the stuff of nightmares.

Erin walked out of the bathroom and thankfully didn't say anything. They chatted for quite a while and Henry was loving how well Elizabeth was getting along with his mother and Erin. Only when Elizabeth's stomach started to growl did Henry remember dinner. Ailis decided to help him cook and Erin and Elizabeth were animatedly discussing what she was reading in her AP literature class. Henry loved how well they were getting along.

He and his mother started getting ready to cook and they soon fell into their old rhythm.

"Again, Mom, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to clean much. I know the apartment isn't bad but we haven't had a chance to do laundry. I'll just wash my sheets quick and you guys can take my bed. I'll sleep out here." Henry said.

Ailis just grinned and shook her head. "Henry, Erin and I will be staying in a hotel. We're not going to put you out."

"You wouldn't be putting me out Mom. You and Erin can take my bed and I'll take the couch."

Ailis McCord shot her son a knowing smile and gestured over to Elizabeth who was animatedly talking with Erin. "Then where's that beautiful girl going to sleep?"

Henry's cheeks flushed a bright crimson red. "Mom, she has a dorm." He wasn't going to lie to his mother and tell her Elizabeth didn't frequently spend the night but he wasn't going to outright admit it either.

Ailis laughed at her son, "Oh, come on, I'm not blind. You two can barely go a minute without touching. You're either holding her hand or you've got your arm wrapped around her waist. I'm not going to scold you for your lifestyle, Henry. You're not doing anything wrong. You're a grown man who makes his own choices and you're doing a damn fine job of it. I know we just met but I can already tell that's a spectacular woman over there. I never thought you'd be able to find a girl who actually deserved you. You look at her like she's the only other person in the world."

Henry glanced over at Elizabeth. She was laughing hysterically at something with Erin and he couldn't help but smile. She was so beautiful inside and out. He never realized loving someone else would be this overwhelming. He couldn't stop smiling. "Mom, I love her."

Ailis reached out to squeeze Henry's arm, "I know, sweetie. I'm happy for you. That being said, your sister and I are sleeping at a hotel. You've got class tomorrow and she's got a big day ahead of her. We all need a good night's sleep."

Henry nodded his understanding. His mother had that stern look on her face that told him she wasn't to be argued with. "I'm glad you guys are here."

Ailis smiled beside her son, "Me too, sweetie."

* * *

I hope you guys liked this. **Please please let me know what you thought?** Again, thanks for sticking with me and I'm really going to try harder to get back to updating more frequently. I have a smut fic I wrote on my way back to London today that should be up sometime tomorrow. I need to go through it one more time but it's getting late and I have work early tomorrow. x J


	14. Chapter 14

Henry and Elizabeth drove his mother and sister back to their hotel room after they ate dinner. Henry couldn't help but be thrilled at how well Elizabeth was getting along with them. They were all already chatting like they were old friends. His mother was fascinated at Elizabeth having grown up on a horse farm and couldn't stop asking her questions. Elizabeth seemed to love talking about where she grew up and he was more than shocked when she invited his mother out for a visit. And this was Elizabeth; she didn't say things she didn't mean. He couldn't stop smiling. His mother liking Elizabeth was really the only thing he cared about. If she had somehow disliked Elizabeth it wouldn't have changed his feelings or made him reconsider them, but it would have cast a strain he didn't want on their relationship. He obviously loved his family a great deal but if it came down to it he would choose Elizabeth. Thankfully he wouldn't have to make that choice.

They dropped them off and agreed to meet up for lunch the next day. Erin had her tour and was going to a class in the morning but after they ate together Henry and Elizabeth would give her their own tour of the campus.

Elizabeth was quiet on the way back to Henry's apartment. He reached over to take her hand. "Babe, are you okay?"

She turned to him and smiled, "Yeah…I'm great actually. It was…it was _nice_ to be around your mom and sister. I really like them." The way she said it she sounded almost surprised.

Henry laughed, "They really like you. Honestly my Mom only had good things to say about you, she really liked you and I can tell Erin did too."

Elizabeth squeezed his hand, "I'm really glad neither one of them said anything about my underwear being all over your bathroom. That would have been so embarrassing."

Henry grinned, "Yeah I forgot about that until the minute Erin asked to use the bathroom and by then it was too late."

"I took some of it down before your Mom used the bathroom but I couldn't take some because they were wet and that would have been gross. Hopefully she just thinks I do laundry at your place?" Elizabeth said, her face scrunched up indicating she didn't believe it even as she was saying it.

"Um…sure, let's go with that." Henry said, trying not to laugh.

Elizabeth turned red and burst out laughing, "Well, I guess she likes me anyway so there's no use worrying about it?"

"Exactly, I'm glad you see it that way. She does really like you."

They arrived back at his apartment and Henry couldn't help himself, he was all over Elizabeth from the minute they entered the door and she wasn't complaining. He couldn't stop kissing her, he couldn't keep his hands off her, at this point he felt she was a physical necessity. He wasn't sure if it was because meeting his mother and sister hadn't sent her running for the hills or if it was because the minute he told Elizabeth how much his mother had liked her he had realized that he was never going to introduce another girl to his mother ever again. Elizabeth was it. He wanted her forever. He had known that pretty much since their first date but tonight had only further confirmed that.

Later they lay tangled together in bed, limbs intertwined and bodies practically melded together. Elizabeth's hand was on his chest over his heart and he had his hand over hers while his other hand traced the curves of her spine.

"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked, her voice groggy and thick with the sleep her body craved.

"You." He responded simply.

She giggled, "You always have me, now get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

Henry grinned and shifted so that he could kiss the top of her head, "I love you, Elizabeth Adams."

"I love you, Henry McCord."

The next day they met up with his Mom and Erin for lunch and enjoyed talking about Erin's tour and class experience with her and then showed her around campus themselves, making sure to include the advice they had to learn on their own starting out at the school.

They were planning where to eat for dinner and Henry and his Mom were arguing about her and Erin staying in the hotel room again when Elizabeth had an idea.

"How about Erin stays with me in my dorm room tonight? Norah won't be there tonight and it might be a good experience for her?"

Erin looked over at her mother, pleading with her eyes. "Oh Mom, that would be great! Can I? Then you can stay with Henry."

Ailis laughed, "Of course you can, sweetie. Thank you, Elizabeth. That's so sweet of you."

After dinner Henry and Ailis dropped Elizabeth and Erin off at Elizabeth's dorm and Henry was having a hard time saying goodbye. He knew it was silly, Elizabeth wouldn't even be away for twelve hours but sleeping without her was a little bit of torture.

His mother was making sure Erin was settled which gave them a semi private moment together. He placed one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek. "I'm going to miss you tonight, is that pathetic?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I'll miss you too."

He pulled her a little closer to him and he kissed her, lightly at first since his mother and sister were in the room, but he just couldn't help himself and deepened the kiss. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, pulling his body as close to her as she could. She sunk into the kiss, forgetting they were not alone. When she finally managed to pull back from Henry she realized Erin and Ailis were watching in amusement. Erin looked amused with a hint of disgust at watching her older brother kiss his girlfriend but Ailis looked amused and delighted.

"Not used to spending this much time apart, are we kids?" She teased.

Elizabeth and Henry both blushed profusely. "Sorry," Elizabeth said quietly, suddenly feeling shy.

"Mom, what do you say we leave the girls?" Henry asked, actively trying to change the subject.

Ailis just laughed and shook her head, recognizing her son's diversion tactic. She turned to Erin, "Have a good night, sweetie." And she gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

She then surprised Elizabeth and walked over, "Good night, dear. Thank you for letting Erin stay with you." She then hugged her and kissed her on the cheek too.

Henry saw that Elizabeth was getting emotional about it, she hadn't been kissed goodnight by a parent since she was twelve.

He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, his face silently asking her if she was going to be okay.

She nodded and she wrapped her arms around his neck, this time not caring that Erin and Ailis were watching. "See you tomorrow."

Henry squeezed her tight before he let her go, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She whispered, not even a little self-conscious anymore that Erin and Ailis could hear her.

Henry was happy he had cleaned his apartment a little more that morning before class since he had convinced his mother that since Erin was staying with Elizabeth she should just stay with him. There was no point paying for another night at a hotel. He did need to wash his sheets but that was an easy fix. He was enjoying having a little one on one time with his Mother so they could catch up.

"So how is it to spend a Friday night with your Mom instead of that pretty girlfriend of yours?" Ailis asked as she helped Henry put the sheets back on his bed.

Henry blushed, "You know I love spending time with you."

His mother laughed, "I know, I'm just teasing you. You two seem very close."

"We are very close." He couldn't stop smiling as he thought about Elizabeth, "She...she makes me happy all the time. Even if we fight over something I don't want to run away and brood I want to talk it through. I've never communicated so well with anyone. We talk about everything."

Ailis smiled, "That's a good thing, sweetie. Communication is key to a healthy relationship." She dropped the pillowcase she was about to put on the pillow and couldn't resist teasing her son when it fell in between the bed and the nightstand and something else caught her eye.

She grabbed the lacy panties and held them up, "I think Elizabeth may have lost something."

Henry's face turned bright red and he scampered over the bed and grabbed the panties. "Oh god, Mom. I'm so sorry. It's…it's not…" he was at a loss for words, there was no way he could explain himself out of this one.

Ailis got serious for a minute, "I know you don't want to talk about this with me and frankly I don't love bringing it up but can you assure me you're using protection? As much as I would love a grandchild someday neither one of you is currently in the right situation for raising a child. You're 23 and you'll be deploying soon and she's only 19 and an undergraduate, you need to be careful for both your sakes."

Henry really didn't want to talk about this with his mother. He was fairly certain his face was bright red at this point. He just nodded. "We're um…we're safe, I swear."

"Good boy. Now how about we go watch a movie together?"

Henry sighed in relief, he was so happy to be done with this conversation.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Erin were enjoying their time at her dorm. Elizabeth didn't want to take her boyfriend's little sister out to a party so thankfully some of the girls in the dorm were having a casual get together and so she just took her there. No drinking meant no temptation and that was good. They enjoyed a quiet girls night with her friends and came back to her dorm to get ready for bed and Elizabeth was happy to get to sleep, she was so tired.

"Did you have a good time tonight?" She asked Erin.

"Yeah, I really did. Thanks for letting me spend the night with you. It's nice to see what the dorm is like."

"I'm glad. I know the party tonight was a little lame but I really don't want to take you to a real college party and risk your mother hating me."

Erin laughed, "No, it's fine. I understand. She likes you a lot though, but she trusts Henry. If he likes you so much you must be great."

Elizabeth was flattered, "Thank you, that means a lot."

"He's never introduced us to a girlfriend before. I mean, in high school he did but how do you avoid that?" She said with a laugh.

Elizabeth grinned; she didn't want to get into her own experiences with boys at boarding school. Now wasn't the time. "He only had the one girlfriend in high school, right?" She cringed, "Sorry, I am not the type to pry but I just couldn't help myself."

Erin laughed, "No, it's fine, yeah just the one. My Mom wasn't her biggest fan either. Practically every girl had a crush on him though. Even my friends are obsessed with him, it's so awkward."

Elizabeth bit her lip, she felt comfortable with Erin but she didn't want to accidentally make things awkward. "Yeah…honestly I don't understand that about him. Girls in our class were all over him all the time and he seemed oblivious. So he's always been like that?"

Erin laughed, "Yeah, he's always been like that."

Elizabeth smiled, "I mean, it's kind of cute. He makes me feel like he's only looking at me. I like that."

"Well, he really likes you. I could tell even back at Christmas. He couldn't stop talking about you."

Elizabeth blushed, she knew Henry loved her but it was still nice to have his fondness for her confirmed by Erin.

Erin continued, "You guys are really cute together. For what it's worth…I hope you guys stay together. I like you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth felt herself getting a little emotional and she had to blink her eyes and shake her head, "Thanks Erin, that means a lot. I like you too."

Elizabeth found it easy to talk to Erin and they chatted for a while until they both fell asleep. She was abruptly awoken the next morning when her dorm phone rang. She jumped out of bed to get it and groggily answered the phone, "Hello?"

Henry laughed on the other end, "Good morning sunshine, have a late night?"

Elizabeth yawned, "Not too late but you woke me up. It's only 8 Henry, jeez it's a Saturday."

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make everyone breakfast before they have to leave."

Elizabeth let out another huge yawn, "Well, I guess that's acceptable. We'll be over in a bit."

Henry chuckled as she hastily hung up the phone without a goodbye; Elizabeth was serious about her food.

After breakfast it was time for Ailis and Erin to leave and Elizabeth found she was already hoping to see them again sometime soon.

Erin hugged Henry as they said goodbye, "Don't screw this up. I really like her." She whispered in her ear.

Henry laughed as he hugged his little sister, "I promise I will try my hardest not to screw it up." He whispered back.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was saying goodbye to Ailis. She hugged her tight, not wanting to let go and Ailis seemed to sense that as she clung to Elizabeth and then kissed the side of her head. Elizabeth reluctantly pulled back but Ailis kept her hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. "Just be good to him, sweetie. And you let me know if he isn't being good to you because that is not the young man I raised."

Elizabeth smiled, "He's always good to me, you raised an amazing young man." She shot a quick glance at Henry who was laughing with his little sister.

Ailis smiled, "Take care of yourself, we'll talk soon and I hope you'll come visit us sometime?"

Elizabeth nodded, "I would love that." Henry's Mom asking her that herself made her feel all warm and happy inside.

They switched and Erin threw her arms around Elizabeth, "Can we talk sometime?"

Elizabeth grinned, "I would love that."

Ailis smiled at her son and ran a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his face. "It was good to see you, it was even better to see you so happy. I don't want to overwhelm her but if you'd like to bring her to the house sometime I'd love that. And don't you worry about your father, I'll keep him in line."

Henry laughed, his Mother was the only one who wielded that power.

"I'll float the idea by her sometime soon. Thanks Mom. I love you."

Ailis wrapped her arms around her son, "I love you too, sweetheart."

His family left and Henry immediately pulled Elizabeth into his arms so her back was against his chest, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and waist and they watched them drive off into the distance.

"So...your Mom invited me to come visit."

Henry was surprised, he figured he was going to be the one bringing that up. "She really likes you."

"Well...I'm just saying that whenever you want to go home for a weekend I'd be willing to come with." She was trying to be casual about it, her voice trailing off slightly at the end.

Henry pursed his lips, he wanted to tease her but now wasn't the time. Instead tilted her head up and swooped in, capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

They finally had to break apart for air but he just kept looking at her, "I love you so much."

She grinned, pursing her lips together in that cute way she did when she was trying not to blush. "I love you, too."

* * *

I know this was a little shorter than usual but I had more and just couldn't find a good place to split it and I figured the end of the visit should be it's own chapter...anyway...I hope you liked it! Please let me know! Thanks so much for reading! Hopefully I can get some more posted this weekend. I'll be logging a LOT of flying time and usually that's where I can focus myself the best. Andddd I'm rambling, sorry, thanks for reading and please leave me a review! x J


	15. Chapter 15

Henry played on an intramural basketball team and Elizabeth found she actually enjoyed going to his games and watching him play. She just couldn't get over how skilled Henry was at seemingly everything and yet he was always so humble. When he had told her he played intramural basketball he was so casual about it, he had made it seem like it was just a bunch of guys playing for fun. Elizabeth was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was it pretty competitive but Henry was actually very good.

One of his games had been outside and it had started to rain. Henry was no quitter and certainly no complainer so he played through without so much as a negative word.

The next day Elizabeth noticed he seemed to be developing the sniffles. In addition to the weather being chilly one of the guys on the team was out sick and Elizabeth figured Henry had caught it too. It was getting late and they were both working on homework and Elizabeth couldn't help but notice Henry looking paler and paler as the night went on and his eyes seemed to be drooping from more than just exhaustion from studying.

She set down her book and walked over to him. She put her hand on his forehead and he was definitely burning up. "Babe, it's time for bed."

Henry took a deep breath and shook his head, "I really need to finish these for tomorrow."

Elizabeth ran her hand back through his hair, "I don't think you're going to be going anywhere tomorrow. You're burning up and you look like hell."

Henry tried to stand up and immediately regretted his decision when a wave of nausea hit him. "Okay, maybe you're right." He said, resting his head in his hands.

Elizabeth tapped his shoulder gently, "Come on, let's get you into bed."

"You should get out of here while you're still healthy, I don't want to get you sick." Henry finally managed to say, his brain felt so foggy.

"I'm not leaving you when you're sick. Plus I think if I was going to be exposed to any germs it probably already happened so me leaving at this point probably wouldn't matter. Even so, I'm not leaving you when you're sick."

Henry looked up and managed a small smile, "I appreciate that, babe. I love you."

She smiled, "I know. Now lets get you up."

She helped a shaky Henry to his feet and threw her arm around him to help him walk into the bedroom. He plopped down onto the bed with a thud and Elizabeth started taking off his shoes. He looked so pitiful it broke her heart.

She managed to get him out of all his clothes besides his boxers, he needed to cool down anyway, and she quickly slipped into her own pajamas and brushed her teeth before getting him a cool washcloth to put on his forehead. She got into bed next to him; he looked like a little boy all curled up and miserable. She put the washcloth on him and he reached out to hang onto her hand. "That feels so nice. Thank you, babe."

She just smiled down at him, she was happy to take care of him.

She woke up the next morning to Henry coughing next to her. She immediately jumped up and grabbed him a glass of water. He gratefully drank it all. He definitely looked worse than he had the night before.

Elizabeth ran a hand over his forehead again to check his temperature, still hot. "Do you feel any better, baby?" She asked.

He shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. But thank you for staying. It means a lot."

Elizabeth smiled, "Of course I stayed. I'll always stay."

Henry wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and rested his head on her lap. She just smiled, he was acting like a little boy and it was pretty adorable.

After a while he started coughing too much so Elizabeth decided she needed to venture out for some medicine. "Baby, I will be right back, I swear to you. I'm just going to get you some cough medicine and some seven up."

He barely acknowledged her, he was really sick.

She arrived home a little while later with a bunch of supplies. Medicine, soup, seven up, cold packs, cough drops, and for when he felt better a copy of Goonies to make him laugh. She then called Maxwell to let her know what was going on with Henry and why he wouldn't be at class or office hours today and afterward gave Norah a quick call and asked her to take notes in class. Luckily all she had today was lecture and in the 300 person class her absence wouldn't be noted.

She started up the soup and walked in to give him some medicine. He was engaged in a fitful sleep and she shook his shoulder gently. "Babe, can you take this medicine?"

After a moment he blinked open his eyes and she helped him sit up. When he took the medicine it seemed like it hurt him a little to swallow.

Elizabeth frowned, "I'm so sorry you're so sick. I'm getting some soup ready do you think you can stay awake?"

He just nodded, unable to form any coherent words.

She kissed his cheek and headed back out to finish up his soup.

When she walked back into the room he was blinking his eyes as if he was struggling to heed her request. She set the tray down in front of him and lifted up the spoon, "Want me to send the airplane in for a landing?" She teased.

Henry laughed but it quickly changed to coughing.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry. Here." She lifted the spoon up and brought it to his mouth once he had stopped coughing.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Henry mumbled before taking a bite.

Elizabeth just smiled and continued to feed him. "Just got lucky I guess." She teased.

Henry fell back asleep after he ate his soup, again curled up against Elizabeth like he was a little boy. She ran her hand tenderly through his brown locks, playing with the slightly curly tendrils and the thought crossed her mind that someday they might have a little boy or girl and she couldn't help but picture running her fingers through the child's hair in just this way. She shook her head, pushing the thought far away from her brain. That was not something she should be thinking about for several years yet. Though she supposed it was nice to think about the future a little bit after being so focused on getting through the present for so much of her life after her parents death. It was calming to once again picture loved ones down the line.

He woke up a little while later and seemed a little more oriented but he still looked pale and green tinted.

"Can I get you some food, baby?" Elizabeth asked him, he needed to eat whether he wanted to or not.

He shrugged as he took a big swig of water.

Elizabeth laughed, "Okay, well I'm going to make you some toast and eggs, does that sound okay?"

He nodded, "Please don't start a fire, I don't think I can get out of the apartment on my own if it starts ablaze." He teased, a faint, sly smile present on his face.

Elizabeth laughed and shook her head, "Good to know you're starting to feel a little better, Lieutenant."

A little while later she came back in with Henry's food. "Ta-da, no fires were started!"

Henry painstakingly sat up in bed, "I'm so proud." He joked. His voice was still hoarse but the medicine seemed to be making him feel a little better.

He mostly picked at his meal but that was okay, as long as he got a little food in him, and Elizabeth cleaned everything up and made him a cup of lemon tea.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, baby?" Elizabeth asked as he sipped his tea, running her fingers through the hair along his forehead.

He set the cup down, "Will you just lie with me for a little while?"

Elizabeth smiled and ran her hand down his face to cup his cheek, "Of course I will."

"You sure? If you need to do any work or anything I'm fine by myself."

She just shook her head, "Shut up and lie down, Henry." She pointed to the bed, her eyes twinkling but her word serious.

Henry laughed at her response and stifled a cough as he did what he was told. She shifted down into the bed and pulled him close so his head was resting on her chest. He wrapped his arm around her middle and slung his leg over hers.

She ran her hand soothingly up and down his bicep and the other along his back. She wasn't sleepy but she certainly didn't mind snuggling up with Henry even if he was a dripping, coughing, achy mess. He was her mess and she'd take him any way she could get him.

She drifted off after a little while but awoke when Henry got up. "Baby?" She asked, a little groggy and disoriented, "are you okay?"

"Bathroom," he croaked out.

She propped herself up on her elbows and watched him slowly walk into the bathroom. She got up and went into the kitchen to grab him some crackers, more tea and fix a quick sandwich. She was only gone ten minutes or so but when she came back she found Henry sprawled face down over the bed.

"How on earth can my whole body hurt like this?" He moaned.

Elizabeth set the food down on his dresser and moved to sit next to him. She rubbed circles over his back. "I think you have a nasty cold, if you aren't feeling better by tomorrow we should think about taking you to the student health center."

Henry groaned, "I think I'll be fine. My head feels less foggy at least."

"That's good, but let's wait and see. I brought you some crackers if you're hungry and I made a sandwich if you think you can stomach it."

He turned to face her, unable to remove his head from the bed. "Maybe."

She helped him sit up and brought the food over. She snuggled up to him and pushed the sandwich in front of him. "Italian, your favorite."

He sighed, "Okay, maybe a few bites." It was his favorite and he hadn't eaten much in the past twenty-four hours.

She grinned; she knew she could entice him with his favorite.

He managed a couple bites but then had to switch to the crackers. Elizabeth picked up the sandwich, she was happy to finish it for him.

"Babe, you're going to get sick."

She shrugged and swallowed another bite. "We've already established that I've been exposed to your germs and I'm pretty sure you drooling and dripping all over last night put the nail in that coffin but right now I feel fine and I probably will be fine. I don't get sick very often."

Henry raised an eyebrow, "Neither do I, and look at me."

She shrugged and she took another bite, "Well, we'll either be sick together or you'll just have to take care of me then."

Henry smiled at her, "I'm happy to take care of you."

Elizabeth ended up getting sick, though not quite as bad as Henry and he was still recovering from his own bout but he was almost back to normal and he was of course happy to take care of her. "How did you manage to not get hit as bad as me? Am I a wimp or are you just underplaying your misery?"

Elizabeth laughed and then started coughing, "I'm not underplaying my misery. I told you, I just don't get sick very easily."

Henry ran his hand through her hair as she lay curled up against the pillows on the bed. She didn't feel as foggy as Henry had but her body felt so achy and heavy and she wasn't sure she ever wanted to get up at this point. Henry's hand stroking her hair felt so nice though, so soothing and comforting. She hadn't felt this way in a long time.

"You know I forgot how nice this is." She mumbled.

Henry pursed his lips, "What do you mean, babe?"

"I forgot how nice it is having someone take care of you."

Henry's heart broke at her words. He leaned in to kiss her balmy forehead, "I will always take care of you."

* * *

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I know it's taking forever for me to update but I've got a LOT on my plate. I know where I'm going with this but it's a matter of putting it all together! Anyway...thanks so much for reading & please leave me a comment! x J


	16. Chapter 16

The plumbing in Henry's apartment had been on the fritz for several days. The landlord had told them he wouldn't be able to fix it for at least a week and Henry then decided he could fix it himself. Elizabeth had greatly admired Henry's will to put his plumbing skills to the test but after his last attempt to "fix" it had sent toilet backup into the shower and flooded it with a stinky, disgusting mess, Elizabeth decided to call a plumber.

Henry was already at school so she didn't think twice before calling up the company and scheduling for someone to come during her lunch break. She made it very clear that was the only opening she had and she desperately needed them to show up. Thankfully the plumber made it at the scheduled time and Elizabeth was excited that Henry would come home that evening to a clean, working bathroom. He had been particularly stressed about a term paper and she knew he didn't need the added stress of the plumbing issues.

Henry arrived home that evening expecting to get down and dirty in his currently disgusting bathroom. He opened the door to his apartment, fully expecting to be engulfed in nauseating fumes but instead was hit with a lemony fresh scent. He dropped his things at the door and headed for the bathroom. To his surprise the whole room was sparking clean and when he tested the toilet it flushed without issue. He shrugged it off and assumed the landlord had an earlier opening and came to check out the issue. Maybe Elizabeth had been home because he was certain the landlord wouldn't have cleaned up this well. He decided to make her tortellini for dinner to thank her for cleaning up and he got to work.

Elizabeth walked in the door a little while later, she was smiling and happy and her eyes lit up when she smelled one of her favorite dishes. "Oh my god, are you making pesto tortellini?" She exclaimed as she tossed her things aside and ran over to Henry.

He was standing at the stove and she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled close.

"I am, it's the least I can do after you cleaned the bathroom. You should have waited for me." He said as he squeezed her hands around his middle.

She kissed his shoulder and moved to the side so she could look at him as they talked. "No baby, it couldn't have waited. It got even worse after you left so I had to have something done. We would have died from the sulfur fumes if it hadn't been taken care of."

Henry cringed, "Sorry babe, I didn't mean to leave you with that mess."

She shrugged and reached her finger out to taste test a tiny bit of the pesto he was working on. "It's not your fault. Thank god the plumber came right away."

Henry frowned, "Wait, the landlord didn't fix it?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, remember he couldn't come until next week. I called a plumber."

He tensed up, "Elizabeth you should have just waited for me to come back and work on it tonight. I can't afford a plumber."

She shrugged; she was too distracted by the food to realize he was getting worked up. "I paid for it. It's not a big deal. I don't officially live here but I'm constantly using up all your stuff. Me paying for a plumber is not a big deal. We needed a working bathroom." She finally looked up and saw that he was getting upset. She stifled a small laugh, "Are you seriously mad about this?"

Her finding this funny just made him angrier. "Elizabeth, it's my apartment, I pay for things. I don't care that you use my things, I like taking care of you. You shouldn't be paying for this stuff. And I would have fixed it myself tonight." He turned back to the stove, unable to look at her at the moment in fear that he would just get angrier.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Like you "fixed" it yesterday? Causing watery shit to come out of the shower?"

Henry scowled, still looking down, "It's good to know you have so much faith in my abilities."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes again, "Oh that's not even fair. Plumbing isn't an innate talent. It's a skill set you learn. This has nothing to do with me not believing in your ability and you know it. And as for you wanting to take care of me, I appreciate that, but this is a relationship Henry. We're supposed to take care of each other. You're the one who showed me that."

Henry took a deep breath and turned to her, "What's so wrong about me wanting to take care of you? It's my apartment, not yours. I don't like feeling like I owe you something."

Elizabeth shook her head, "I can't believe what an absolute misogynistic ass you're being about me paying for a damn plumber. Do you even hear yourself right now? What the hell is the big deal? So I can afford a plumber, big fucking deal! I don't ever do things for you because I expect to be paid back and I can't even believe you right now for saying that." She needed to get out of here before she said something she regretted. She whipped around on her heels and stormed out of the apartment, forgetting most of her things in her haste to get back to her dorm room. She didn't care though; she sure as hell wasn't going back there until he apologized.

She stormed into her dorm room and slammed the door shut before realizing Norah was in the room.

"Whoa!" Her friend said, "calm down there Wonder Woman, we don't need the door flying off it's hinges."

Elizabeth turned to see her roommate, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

Norah frowned, Elizabeth looked angry and distraught. "What's going on with you?"

Elizabeth sighed as she walked over to her bed and dramatically threw herself on it. "Henry is a misogynistic asshole."

Norah raised her eyebrows and turned around her chair to face her roommate. "Okay, I realize I don't know the guy as well as you do but that feels like quite a stretch. What happened?"

Elizabeth let out a deep breath, "Fine, you're right. I probably shouldn't have called him a misogynistic asshole but he made me so mad."

Norah grimaced, those were awfully strong words. "Tell me what happened."

Elizabeth explained to her the issues they'd been having with the bathroom and how she had reached her end with the situation this morning and given up and called a plumber. "All I did was call the damn plumber because there was literally shit in the bathtub. It's not like I paid his rent for him or bought him a new couch, which honestly I would like to do because his is a lumpy mess. I didn't think anything of it and I'm always there eating his food and using up his toilet paper and we never talk about me paying him back for that stuff, there's never even a stupid discussion about owing anyone anything. I just paid for a plumber, it wasn't a big deal. Then he went and got all weird about how he likes to take care of me and now he feels like he owes me which is just stupid and archaic and it makes me feel like I he doesn't think we're equals." She sighed, "I just always thought he was different."

Norah walked over and sat down on the bed and put her arm around her friend, "He is different. You're reading too much into this. No one is perfect Elizabeth, even Henry. This is affecting you in this crazy way because up until now you've held him to an inhuman standard. You need to talk with him about this, don't just yell at him and storm. Explain to him why you're hurt and talk about it. He's a human being and he's going to make mistakes. The difference between Henry and most other guys is that he's willing to learn from them. You can't let your anger take over so much that you forget that. Not to mention Henry loves you so much, I bet he's beating himself up right now over the way he acted."

Elizabeth groaned and leaned forward to put her head in her hands, "You might be right. I hate you."

Norah laughed and rubbed Elizabeth's back soothingly, "Okay, just calm down a little bit and go back over there and talk to him. Tell him why you're angry. We all make mistakes and if you never give anyone else the chance to grow and change then you're never going to be able to grow and change yourself."

Back at his apartment Henry had immediately regretted what he had said to her. It made him uncomfortable that she could pay for things and not be worried about paying her rent but that wasn't her fault and it certainly wasn't her problem. He really regretting telling her he felt like he owed her, what a stupid thing to say. She was right, he was the one who told her that being in a relationship meant taking care of each other and he had touted communication in all matters as the upmost of importance. He felt like such an asshole. He had spent most of his life trying to broaden his horizons and not be the kind of man who felt like he needed to be the one with all the power in the relationship and he felt like a failure in this moment. He hated that Elizabeth now probably thought he saw himself as superior. That made him feel sick to his stomach. He hated knowing he had hurt her. All of this was such a ridiculous fight and every minute that passed made him regret his words more and more. He really didn't care who paid for what or even if Elizabeth always made more money than him. This wasn't the 1950's and one of the things he most adored about her was her ambition, he couldn't believe he had regressed to acting like some pathetic man who was so fragile in his masculinity he couldn't deal with a woman who was his equal. Dammit, he thought. He really needed to fix this.

He finished up the pasta and put it in the refrigerator; he could use it to beg for her forgiveness later. Before leaving his apartment he debated stopping off to get her flowers or something but he wasn't sure what kind of flowers said 'sorry I was such an asshole'. He decided just to drive over to her dorm and when he arrived at the door to his apartment complex he was completely shocked to see her walking toward him.

He stopped in his tracks, a look of pure confusion on his face as she approached.

"Elizabeth, I…I was just coming to find you." He sputtered out.

She managed a small smile, "Luckily I didn't leave five minutes later."

He felt a little weight lift of his chest at her joke. She still looked angry but at least she was still teasing him.

They walked in silence back up to his apartment and for a moment it was just silence as they both tried to build up their confidence. Finally Henry was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I can't believe I acted like such a jerk."

She pursed her lips and nodded, "I appreciate that and while you were a jerk it was unfair of me to call you a misogynistic asshole because that obviously isn't true."

"No, you were right. I treated you like I was the head of our relationship and that was wrong of me."

Elizabeth stopped him before he could continue, "No, I mean, yes you did sort of do that, but that doesn't make you a misogynistic asshole. You're a human being and sometimes you're so obnoxiously perfect that I forget you make mistakes too. You were raised that the man was the head of the household, we all were, and I know in your heart you don't believe that anymore but it's unfair of me to expect you to suddenly forget everything you were shown as a kid. You are the kindest, gentlest human I've ever known and I shouldn't have gone off on you like that. You didn't deserve that. I should have explained to you why what you said bothered me instead of immediately getting enraged about it."

Henry smiled and took a step closer to her, "I appreciate you saying that but I'm still in the wrong. You were right to be angry with me. You are incredible and you deserve better than that. You're right, I'm the one who preached about how we needed honesty and I should have been honest that you being able to pay for a plumber made me uncomfortable even though I know it shouldn't and I'm working on that. It pains me to think I made you believe for even a second that I don't see you as my equal because that just isn't true."

Elizabeth smiled and nodded, "I know you believe that and if something like this happens again I'll point it out instead of getting mad at you and blowing up and instead we can talk it out. We're all works in progress; it's unfair for me to expect you to be perfect all the time, that's insane. If there's one thing I'm certain about it's that you have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known and I don't like making you doubt that. I know how much you love and respect me and you deserve the benefit of the doubt."

"I really do, I love your ambition and drive and the way you stand up for yourself. My masculinity isn't dependent on being the head of the household and I apologize for losing myself for a moment and forgetting that."

Elizabeth took another step forward and reached out to touch his hand. "Apology accepted."

He pulled her toward him and into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her body and held her close, kissing her temple and breathing in the comforting scent of her coconut shampoo.

They just stood like that for a minute, relaxing in the comfort of each other's arms until Elizabeth broke their silence. "Do you still have that pasta? I'm starving."

Henry burst out laughing and started leading her over to the kitchen. "Of course I do."

Elizabeth blushed, he really did know her so well, and for the first time she realized she wasn't looking for an endpoint to a relationship. They had fought and never at one point had she feared losing him. They were both in this for the long haul, it wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows but they were going to be just fine.

* * *

I had just the hardest time coming up with this chapter. I've been trying to figure out how to get them into a real fight for a while now but I just couldn't come up with anything that felt honest. Finally I initiated a discussion with my fiancé and we had way to much fun laughing about the dumb things we fight about…closet space, me leaving my shoes everywhere, the backsplash tile in our kitchen, when he drives my car and doesn't switch to his setting he just adjusts mine-oh MAN that gets me going lol...and finally we came to one of the serious things we occasionally fight about…which is money. I realized everyone fights about money no matter how much you have or don't have. That idea in addition to recalling Henry's frustration over the broken washing machine led me to this idea. Which I hope was an enjoyable read but I also hope it showed something I really, truly believe which is that we all have to evolve and change to become better humans and the people we love are often keys to this evolution. No one starts out in life with all the answers and all we can do every day is try our hardest to do better, to be better and that process is always a little easier when we know someone who loves us and believes in us no matter what is by our side.

I hope you liked this. As always, thank you so much for reading and pretty please leave me a comment!

Also...what stupid, funny things do you guys fight with your significant others about?


	17. Chapter 17

Saturday morning Henry was abruptly awakened at the shrill ring of his phone. He reached over to his nightstand and sent several books crashing to the ground as he swatted his hand about feeling around for the bulky reciever. He finally grabbed it and mumbled a hello.

Elizabeth had also been awakened by the unpleasant sound but had pulled the bedcovers over her head and nuzzled into Henry's side. She was more than surprised when he pulled the covers down and held the phone out for her, "S'for you." He mumbled.

She was still half asleep herself and grabbed it, sending another book crashing to the ground when she pulled the cord. Who on earth would be calling her at Henry's?

"Hello?" She mumbled.

She was met with the familiar and obnoxious laugh of her older brother, "Are you two really still sleeping? It's 11 am! What on earth did you two do last night?" He teased.

She scowled, "We're in college. We were out late with friends. Don't be a jerk. Hang on, how the hell do you have Henry's number?" She couldn't remember ever giving it to him.

"He gave it to me. You know I do like to know where you are every once in a while."

She rolled her eyes; she was too tired and hungover to deal with this right now.

"What do you want, Will?" She said with a yawn.

"I can't call and check up on my little sister?"

She groaned, "Will." She was getting ready to just hang up.

He cleared his throat, "Okay fine, I um, I wanted to talk to you about selling the house."

Elizabeth was suddenly wide-awake and she shot up into a sitting position. "What? Mom and Dad's house?" She wasn't sure what other house he could possibly be referring to but she still needed to be sure she wasn't hearing things.

Thankfully Will chose not to be snarky in that moment. "Yeah Lizzy, Mom and Dad's house."

"Why? We've kept it for this long, why now?" Her voice was suddenly quiet and timid. She felt the tears threatening at her eyes but vowed to not lose her cool just yet.

Henry was wide-awake now. He had been alarmed by the way she had shot up and propped himself on his elbow to observe her demeanor as she talked to her brother.

"Well, we don't really use it except for holidays and you aren't coming home for the summer. I'm not suggesting we get rid of all their stuff, just the house." Will replied.

Elizabeth was quickly getting visibly upset and Henry sat up and started to stroke her back gently.

"The house is where we grew up! It's where all our memories are! I don't give a fuck about Mom's jewelry or some stupid piece of furniture! I care about the place I learned to ride a horse and the pond where Dad taught me to fish. I care about all the times I watched Mom cook in the kitchen and the doorframe where Dad marked our heights every year." She couldn't help the tears that had started to fall.

"Elizabeth, calm down. I know there's an emotional component but it's just a house. They aren't there anymore. Selling it won't erase your memories. Uncle Robert thinks it's a good idea and..."

This was Elizabeth's breaking point; she slammed her free hand down and cut him off. "You talked to him before me? How dare you, it wasn't his fucking house, Will!"

"Elizabeth, come on, be an adult. Can I just explain this to you?"

Those words were her last straw. She was now seething with anger. "Fuck you, Will. I'm not selling the house and it's half mine so you need me to agree before you do anything."

With that she handed the phone off to Henry so he could hang it up. She was done with Will for the moment.

Henry hung up the phone without questioning it and sat back up next to her, unsure of how to proceed. She seemed frozen to her spot.

Henry reached out to caress her shoulder and his gentle touch made her break down. "Will wants to sell our parents' house." She finally said as she broke down sobbing, her head in her hands.

Henry had assumed as much from her words to Will but it didn't quite hit him until she confirmed it out loud. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close as she cried. He didn't know what to do or say, all he wanted was to make it better for her but he didn't know how to. He kissed the top of her head and just let her cry.

She wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her head in his chest. She normally wouldn't let anyone see her cry, especially about her parents, she didn't do it often and it felt so invasive to have anyone else around while she grieved. It was different with Henry though, she was so glad she had been with him when Will decided to drop this bomb on her.

She cried in his arms for a little while until she finally felt like she could breathe again and pulled away from her boyfriend.

Henry reached out to cup her cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Babe, is there anything I can do for you?"

She shook her head and managed a faint smile. "You're doing it, just by being here."

"I love you." He said, he could tell she needed the reassurance.

She smiled and reached up to cover his hand on her cheek, "I know you do, I love you too."

He reached out for her and pulled her back into him and settled them back into the bed. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, his body was like a security blanket and whenever she was wrapped up in him she felt completely safe.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked tentatively, his fingers dancing in delicate patterns on her shoulder.

She sighed, "I know I shouldn't have blown up at him the way I did but it's our house, it's where we grew up. I understand that it's just a house but it's where all our memories are and I'm not ready to let that go. Maybe that's childish, but I'm just not ready."

Henry held her tighter, "It's not childish. Your memories are all you have and it wasn't fair of him to spring that on you."

She felt like she was going to start crying again, "He talked to our uncle about it before he brought it up to me. I can't believe he had the nerve to do that. It's half mine and half his, no one else's. I get that we don't use the house as much anymore but I'm just…I'm just not ready."

"You don't have to be ready. There's no timeline for this, you do it in your own time and no one can tell you whether or not you should be ready. What you've done, the way you've carried on with your life, is incredible and if you aren't ready to let go of the house then that's your prerogative. You're the strongest person I know and wanting to keep this connection to your family doesn't negate that."

"Thank you," she whispered into his chest, placing a soft kiss on his collarbone. "I needed to hear that. I just need to feel like I still have a home, even if no one is there."

Henry took a deep breath, "Babe, I know that this isn't the same and I'm not at all trying to say I think I can replace your family but I just need you to know that you always have a home with me. Always."

Elizabeth felt like she was going to cry again and she held onto him even tighter. She took a minute to compose herself and then looked up at Henry. "It might not be the same but I appreciate it more than you know. You make me feel whole, Henry McCord, and I love you with all my heart."

Henry leaned in to kiss her; her tongue darted into his mouth deepening the kiss. They finally had to break apart to catch their breaths, "How about I make you some food and then we can figure out how you want to deal with this? I know you don't want to but eventually you're going to need to talk about this with Will."

She groaned and nodded, "Fine but only if you make me waffles and bacon."

Henry laughed, "Absolutely, baby."

Henry made her lunch and they talked a little more, Elizabeth agreed that she would call Will and hear him out but she definitely wasn't selling the house. Not yet, at least.

On Sunday she sucked up her pride and she called her brother. The conversation was terrible and she listened to him but she made it clear that she couldn't sell the house. Maybe in a couple years but right now it was still home and she needed that anchor. Will had understood her reasoning but warned her he was going to bring up the topic again.

She was grateful but the whole thing left her uneasy. Something in her snapped and she just wanted to be home. She wanted to sleep her in her childhood bed surrounded by her horse sheets and wake up to sunlight pouring into the room through the light blue curtains. She wanted to ride her horse and she wanted to take a nap next to the pond.

Henry watched her for the next two days and knew something was off. She was unfocused and flighty, two words he would never normally use to describe her. He was worried but he knew she would come to him when she needed him and if she began to push him away he wasn't about to let that stand.

Wednesday morning she finished her first class and decided to go grab her car to head off campus and run some errands but instead of heading to the store she found herself heading for home. Two hours later she arrived in a daze. She honestly couldn't even remember driving herself there. It was as if her body and mind had become two separate entities and her mind didn't have a clue what was happening. It was just past lunchtime but she wasn't hungry. She walked into the house and headed straight for her parents' bedroom where she just crawled onto the bed and collapsed.

Henry arrived back at his apartment around 2 and a knot grew in his stomach when Elizabeth wasn't there. She was always there Wednesday afternoon, usually passed out on the couch with a forgotten book draped over her chest. He walked into his bedroom and she wasn't there either. This was all making him feel tense and uneasy. He decided to call her dorm room phone and just hope she had gone there for now. Every time the phone rang he felt the uneasy feeling grow. Finally he got the answering machine and just hung up. He grabbed his keys and headed out to her dorm. Another student let him into the building when he arrived and he headed straight for her room. He knocked at the door and a sliver of hope filled him when it started to open but that faded quickly at the sight of Norah.

He sighed, "Norah, is Elizabeth here?"

Norah immediately took in his frantic demeanor and frowned, "No, I haven't seen her since lunch yesterday. Why? Did you two get in a fight?"

He shook his head, "No, she…" he didn't want to spill Elizabeth's family drama but he also didn't want to panic Norah, "she got in a fight with Will and she's upset."

Norah rolled her eyes, "He is always upsetting her."

Henry shook his head and took a deep breath, "Yeah, I don't know what to tell you about that."

Norah laughed and opened the door all the way so Henry could come in the room. She glanced around. "Well, her car keys aren't here either. Maybe she's running errands?"

Henry pursed his lips; come to think of it he hadn't seen her car in its usual spot in the parking lot either. She barely ever used her car and always left the keys in the room in case Norah needed to use it too. Suddenly he knew she wasn't running errands. "Yeah, maybe she is. I'll call you when I find her, okay?"

Norah smiled, "Thank you, I would appreciate that."

He hightailed it out of the building and jumped into his car. He knew exactly where she had disappeared.

He arrived in Middleburg around five and thanks god for his keen sense of direction because finding the winding country road to her family home would have been impossible without it.

He reached the house and was immediately relieved when he saw her car parked smack in the middle of the circular driveway leading up to the house.

He parked and got out of the car. The door was unlocked-he reminded himself to discuss that with her later-and he walked through the main floor looking for her. He then headed upstairs, figuring she was in her bedroom, but she wasn't there either. He slowly walked down the hallway and decided he should call out her name so as not to frighten her since she definitely was not expecting him. "Elizabeth?" He called, "baby, its me."

There was no response.

Elizabeth had heard his call and opened her mouth to respond but no words came out. She badly wanted to respond, to get up and find him, but her body wouldn't allow it.

Henry looked in two rooms before he found her.

He felt like his heart broke at the sight of her. She looked so small curled up in the big bed, clinging to a pillow. Her cheeks looked gaunt and her bare shoulders looked bony and severe against her body. He couldn't believe how much three days of this type of stress had made her look so utterly drained and he internally chastised himself for not figuring out something to help her sooner.

He cautiously walked over to the bed, "Can I lie with you?"

She just nodded, that was all the energy she could muster.

Henry grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and when he climbed in next to her he draped it over her body. He wrapped his arms around her, his body enveloping her like a blanket. He peppered soft kisses over her check and the side of her head and settled in next to her, their bodies pressed together like pieces of a puzzle.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, the warmth of his body was intoxicating and although she had been lying unmoving on the bed for hours she hadn't been able to sleep. But now Henry was here and his presence seemingly cast a spell over her body and finally put her at ease. Her eyes finally closed and she finally slipped into sweet slumber.

Henry just watched her as she slept for about an hour, it took that long for her breathing to even out and for him to feel comfortable leaving her. He didn't want to get up but he owed Norah a call. He carefully got out of bed and put a pillow behind Elizabeth in place of his body and tucked her tenderly into the blanket. Thankfully she was sound asleep and didn't notice him leave.

He quickly called Norah and only explained where they were and reassured her that he was going to take care of Elizabeth. He then called Maxwell and explained why he might be out for the next two days. Thankfully she understood and even offered to cover for him regarding his other classes.

He was starving and he knew Elizabeth would be when she woke up. He checked the kitchen for food knowing there wasn't any but hoping to get lucky. He was apparently out of luck but then he remembered a menu for her favorite restaurant-the only one who would deliver all the way out to the house-and he called and placed an order for her favorite things.

He waited for the food to come by watching her sleep. When it arrived he grabbed a tray and plates and brought everything upstairs.

He touched her shoulder gently, "Baby, please wake up, I need you to eat."

Her eyes blinked open but her stare looked uncharacterisitcally blank. She shook her head, "I'm not hungry."

She was almost relieved that actual words came out.

Henry wasn't having that, "Yes you are, you're Elizabeth Adams and you're always hungry." He teased, hoping to elicit even the most meek of smiles from her.

His heart soared when the corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly and before she could reply her stomach did it forward.

Henry raised an eyebrow, "See, even your stomach agrees with me."

He helped her sit up against the headboard and he climbed into bed next to her and set the food in front of her. "Please try to eat, Elizabeth."

She quietly picked at the food and he did the same as he observed her.

She announced she was full and he was satisfied she'd had enough so he took the remaining food downstairs and put away the leftovers. When he got back upstairs she was sitting in bed staring blankly.

He crawled in next to her and pulled her close. She nuzzled her head in his neck and wrapped her arms around his torso. "I don't know what's happening to me, Henry. I never even made a conscious decision to come here I just ended up here and then I just laid here for hours and I couldn't move."

He kissed her forehead, "Nothing is happening to you, you're depressed and you have every right to be."

She shook her head, "I'm not depressed, I can't be depressed it's been too long."

"That isn't how it works, baby. Being a little depressed is nothing to be ashamed of, it's beyond your control and it doesn't diminish how strong you are. Has this ever happened before?"

She bit her lip and nodded, "Um, yeah a few times."

"Okay, how did you get through them?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, I just stayed in bed for a while and gradually got up the strength to move again."

"Well, now you have me and whatever you need I'm here. Let's just stay here for a couple days and we'll see what happens by Sunday?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No Henry, I can't ask you to do that, what about school? I can't be the reason you're missing classes."

"I'm not worried about school, I'm worried about you." Henry responded sternly, his tone letting her know there was no arguing with him.

She pulled back to look him in the eye and saw how serious he was and she nodded, "I love you, Henry."

* * *

God, FINALLY an update! haha Anyway, I'm SO sorry this is taking me ages, life is hectic and I'm sort of all over the place. I've got an end point planned so I'm just going to keep trucking & I genuinely appreciate all the support even when I'm so slow at updating. Thanks so much for reading & please please leave me a review!

xo, J


	18. Chapter 18

"Do you want to sleep in here or go to your bedroom?" Henry asked, Elizabeth kept batting her eyes and nodding her head like she was trying to stay awake.

"I…um…I think I'd like to stay in here, is that okay or is it too weird for you?"

Henry smiled as he kissed her temple, "No, it's fine. Whatever you need, babe."

Neither of them had pajamas-or anything they needed for that matter-Henry managed to find some extra toothbrushes lying around and found Elizabeth some pajamas in her bedroom. The house was warm enough so he figured he would be fine wearing just his boxers and t-shirt.

They got ready for bed in silence. Elizabeth put on the shorts Henry found for her but decided to forgo the pajama shirt in favor of her tank top. Henry finished getting ready first and crawled into bed. Elizabeth followed a couple minutes later and immediately curled up into his side, slinging her leg in between his and wrapping her arms tightly around his torso.

Elizabeth fell asleep rather quickly but Henry stayed up until he knew she was in a deep sleep and finally allowed himself to doze off.

The next morning he was the first one to wake up. Part of him wanted to go into town and get some food but he really didn't want to leave Elizabeth alone so he decided to wait for her to wake up. Two hours later he was concerned that his girlfriend, who normally needed only about seven hours of sleep, had been asleep for almost eleven hours. And that was in addition to all the napping she had done yesterday. This wasn't like her at all.

He read on the bed next to her and finally her eyes fluttered open. "Hey Sleeping Beauty," he said with a smile.

She took a deep breath and reached out for him but she didn't say anything. She just put her head on his lap and closed her eyes again.

Henry frowned, "Babe, can you get up? How about we go get some food?"

"Not hungry," She mumbled.

He reached down to run his hand through her hair; "Well maybe if you get up and go to the grocery with me you'll feel hungry?"

"No Henry, I don't want to go into town."

"Baby, you've just been lying here for so long, please come with me?"

She pulled away from him and rolled around so that her back was facing him. "Henry, please, just let me sleep."

Henry put his book down and turned on his side to face her. He reached out and ran his hand along her shoulder and traced the curve of her back down her spine before he snuggled into her and kissed the back of her neck. "Okay, I'll go get us some food. I'll be back soon. I love you."

She didn't verbally respond but she reached back and squeezed his hand. She felt so numb, like all her energy was drained from the inside out. She wanted to move to get out of bed to do anything but just lie here but she felt weighted down. She grabbed ahold of the pillow; it didn't smell like her mother anymore. It used to. For years the room had subtle notes of the Hermès perfume her mother loved so much that made her smell like a garden after it rained but with an underlying scent that was distinctly her mother and her unique body chemistry, there was something that hinted of spice and warmth under it, a scent Elizabeth would never be able to replicate because it had died with her. She wished she could scream or cry or even laugh, she just wanted to feel anything but empty.

Henry left the house and went to the store to grab them food and supplies for the next couple days. When he arrived back he was dismayed to see Elizabeth still in bed.

He walked over to her side of the bed and pulled her covers off her and started to pick her up. "Henry, what are you doing?"

"I've got food and it's fine if you just want to lay around all day but we're going to do it downstairs in the family room." At least there she would be exposed to some sunlight.

She just sighed and snuggled up to him as he carried her downstairs. He had set up their food on the coffee table and they settled in with a movie. Elizabeth was eating a little but she was abnormally quiet. She had been trying to watch the movie but she just couldn't focus. She needed a real distraction, something to take her mind off the numbness that was seemingly permeating her insides. Henry was next to her and she could see his bicep muscles flexing as his arm moved. She felt a flutter in her stomach as she looked at him. Henry could always make her feel something. She reached out to touch his arm and he turned to her, unable to disguise the surprise on his face.

She traced her fingers along his bicep, "I was just thinking about what happened on this couch the last time we were here…" her voice trailed off as she kneeled up and reached out with her free hand to run her fingers through his hair.

She slung her leg over his lap and pressed her body against his. His hands landed on her waist and his pupils blown wide, affected by the heat emanating from her body. Her lips ascended on his and he sunk into the kiss. Her hands started to unbutton his pants and he forced himself to come to his senses. He grabbed for them and pulled them away and then tore his lips away from hers, "Elizabeth, you've been practically catatonic for the past twenty four hours, I'm not having sex with you while you're like this."

She placed her hands on his neck, her thumbs stroking his cheeks. "Henry, please. I need to feel something and you always make me feel something."

He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing, he didn't want to have anything but a clear head, "Elizabeth, I can't. If we have sex, what's going to happen after? Are you just going to go back to being withdrawn? I can't be responsible for making this worse for you."

Elizabeth felt hot tears slowly start to fall from her eyes, "You couldn't ever make this worse, please don't ever think that."

Henry reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Elizabeth I'm so worried about you, I want to help you but I just don't think sex is the right way to help you."

Elizabeth took a deep breath, she understood why he was hesitant but she just needed something to evoke some emotion in her. "What if we just kissed for a little while and then see where that leads?"

Henry looked into her eyes, they were the brightest shade of blue because of her tears, he nodded and her lips immediately crashed into his.

She pressed her body up against his and she felt the familiar fire ignite in her belly and she moaned in a mix of pleasure and relief. She could still feel something, she could get through this. His hands roamed her back as they kissed and she ran hers through his hair and down his chest. His body felt like an anchor tethering her to reality and she just wanted to lose herself in him.

Ever so slowly their kisses grew in passion and Elizabeth's hand was at his pants, he reached down with all his control and stopped her. "Come on Henry, please." She whispered.

He groaned, "Will you try to talk to me after?"

She nodded and tried to pull her hand out of his grip to get him out of his pants but he held steady. She finally made eye contact with him.

"Elizabeth, promise me?"

She nodded again, "I promise."

Henry made sure to be extra careful with her as he worshipped every part of her body. He wasn't sure what the right way to help her was but at the very least he was going to make damn well sure she knew how loved and cherished she was.

Elizabeth let Henry take the lead and just let herself focus on all the pleasurable things he was making her feel.

After they both finished Henry collapsed on top of her and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. After a few moments he tried to move off her. "No, stay here." She whispered.

"Baby, I'm too heavy to lie on you like this for much longer." He replied as he kissed her temple.

"But I don't want you to move." She said, as she just held onto him tighter.

Instead of shifting off her he managed to turn to his side and pull her with him so their bodies didn't lose any contact.

Elizabeth sighed and nuzzled her head in the crook of his neck.

Henry let her enjoy the silence for a little while before he spoke. "Baby, it's time to talk about this."

Elizabeth groaned and he kissed her temple. "You promised, what if I run us a bath, pour us some wine, and then we talk?"

Elizabeth nodded, that actually didn't sound bad.

Henry got up to get everything together. He had purposely picked up some bubble bath and wine because he knew it was one thing that always made Elizabeth feel better. He wasn't sure if it would work when she was like this but he would be damned if he didn't try.

He led Elizabeth up the stairs when the bath was almost ready. It felt a little strange to him to be doing this in her parents' bathroom but the small tub in her own bathroom was barely big enough for one adult let alone two.

He stepped into the tub and helped her in after him. He sat down and she sat in between his legs and leaned back against his strong chest. He wrapped his arms around her, one across her chest and the other across her torso. Elizabeth crossed her arms over her body and clung to him, she felt so tethered and relaxed in his arms.

"Tell me what's happening to you, babe?" Henry whispered in her ear.

She sighed, "It's like I've just run a marathon. My body and my brain are exhausted and no matter how much I sleep I can't feel rested. I want to get up, I want to move but I can't. It's like I get so overwhelmed with emotion that I shut down and then it's like I can't feel anything. As if my body is trying to block out the bad emotions but it can't block out the bad ones without blocking out the good ones too."

Henry just held her tighter, he hated that she was hurting. "And this has happened to you before?"

She nodded, "Yeah, a couple times. It would gradually get better but I've never talked to anyone about it."

"You never saw a therapist after your parents died?"

"No I…I went off to boarding school pretty quickly thereafter. I talked with a school counselor a few times but it was more about how I was adjusting than why I was there."

Henry squeezed his eyes shut, he hated that she had been dealing with this alone for so long. "Maybe it would be a good idea to talk to one of the school counselors about this?"

Elizabeth groaned, "I'm talking to you about it, I don't want to talk to anyone else."

He kissed her temple, "Thank you for talking about this to me, I know it can't be easy."

"It's not easy, but I want to talk to you about these things. I need you to know that."

"Are you feeling better?"

Elizabeth bit her lip; she didn't want to lie to him. "A little bit."

"Don't sugar coat because you want me to feel better." He warned.

She sighed, "I do feel a little better, but I'm also still feel tired all over. I just need some time. It will pass. It has nothing to do with you though, Henry. I swear, I'm glad you're here and I have no idea how to thank you for being here for me like this. I know it isn't what you signed up for."

"What I signed up for is you. Good, bad, happy, sad, angry, threatening me with bodily harm because I ate the last piece of cheesecake..." Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at that very true statement. "I'm always here for you, no matter what. I love you, all of you, all the time."

Elizabeth felt her eyes start to water. "I love you too."

They got out of the bath when the water started to cool down and they wrapped up in some warm towels. They got dressed and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening downstairs with the television on but neither one of them actually paying much attention. Elizabeth had been falling in and out of sleep so around 10 Henry finally decided to take her upstairs and let her fall asleep in bed. He got her settled into the bed and crawled in next to her. Elizabeth curled into Henry's embrace. "I don't know what I would do without you," she whispered.

Henry kissed her sweetly, "You'd be fine, you're the strongest person I know, but I'm always going to be here for you. Always."

The next morning Henry was again up first and he decided to make Elizabeth breakfast and bring it up to the bedroom. She was just lying in bed when he brought her food up but she was awake so that was good. She mostly picked at her food again but she was receptive when he suggested they go for a walk.

They walked hand in hand around the pond and Elizabeth told him several stories about fishing with her Dad. "I just think about them every time I'm here. I understand that keeping the house won't bring them back nor will it keep the memories from fading but I still feel them here…if that makes any sense? Oh god, I sound so crazy."

"No, you don't sound crazy at all. The house is a connection to them and you don't have to be ready to let that go if you don't want to be. Don't let Will push you into something you're going to regret."

Elizabeth nodded, "Can we um, can we go back now? I'm tired."

Henry squeezed her hand, "Of course, baby."

Elizabeth fell asleep on the sofa and Henry puttered around the house. He figured out what he was going to make them for dinner and he started reading a book he found in her parents' library. Suddenly the phone rang. He rushed to pick it up before it could wake Elizabeth up and he was immediately annoyed when he realized who was on the line.

"Adams residence."

"Henry?" The voice questioned in surprise.

He couldn't hide his disdain and let out a scowl, "Yeah." Short and curt was the only way he wasn't going to lose it with Will.

"Is Elizabeth okay? I called both your places a dozen times and finally her roommate picked up and told me you two were here. Is something wrong? Can I speak to her?"

Henry took a deep breath, he liked Will, he really did, but right now he was causing Elizabeth pain and that was not okay even if he was her brother. "You know damn well that what's wrong is that you want to sell your parents' house and she isn't ready. She is not okay but she will be fine, I'm here for her. And no, you can't speak to her. You've done enough damage for the time being and she needs a break."

"I can just call back another time. She's my sister, I have a right to talk to her."

"You could do that but I promise you I'll be the one answering the phone. Right now I don't care about how you feel, I care about Elizabeth and until she's okay enough to talk to you, you won't be talking to her. I know that you love her and so I need you to let her process this and come to you in her own time, please?"

Will wanted to argue but Henry seemed deadly serious. "Um, fine, just have her call me soon…please?"

"I'll try but I won't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do."

Will took a deep breath, "Thanks for taking care of her Henry, don't let her down. She deserves the world."

"Please don't ever tell me not to let her down when you're the one who breaks her heart a little more every time you speak to her." And with that he hung up the phone. He felt a little guilty for being so cold to Will but he was the catalyst for Elizabeth's breakdown and at this moment Henry just didn't have the capacity to forgive that.

When he walked back into the family room Elizabeth was half awake. "Who was that?" She asked, clearly confused.

Henry sat down next to her and she crawled into his lap and snuggled up to him. He pressed feather light kisses all over her face and his heart fluttered when he saw a hint of a smile on her face.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked again.

He sighed, "Um, Will."

She immediately tensed up. "He was worried about you and Norah told him you were here. I told him that you would call him when you're good and ready and he needs to respect that."

She just nodded, "Thanks, but I don't really want to talk to him anytime soon."

Henry kissed her cheek and his lips lingered, "You don't have to, whenever you're ready. Days, weeks even, you need to process and heal and he always upsets you." He paused, "I um, I wasn't exactly kind to him and I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my place."

Her face was expressionless and he couldn't tell if she was angry or not. "What did you say to him?" She asked.

"Well, firstly I told him that I didn't care what he felt, I cared about you and you were hurting so he needed to give you space to come to him in your own time. Then when we were finished talking he told me not to let you down because you deserve the world. I told him to never say that to me again while he's the one who breaks your heart a little every time you speak."

Elizabeth was silent and Henry feared she was angry. He opened his mouth to start profusely apologizing but she cut him off. "No Henry, don't apologize. Thank you for defending me. You have every right to speak to him that way; you've been here for me more in the past eight months than he has in the past six years. I love you, Henry McCord. I love you so much."

Henry pulled his arms tightly around her and nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck. "I know, I love you too, Elizabeth. You are everything."

* * *

So...I am going to delve into this Elizabeth/depression plot for a couple chapters. I hope that's okay. I've been struggling lately with my depression and writing about it has always been a part of my therapy but I thought maybe it would help to write about it in this manner...anyway...I'm really nervous about this so please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading. xx J


	19. Chapter 19

Thanks so much for all the kind & encouraging reviews. I really appreciate all the support.

* * *

By Sunday Elizabeth seemed to be feeling at least a little better. They had gone riding Saturday afternoon and Henry was thrilled to finally see a genuine smile from her. She seemed to be doing better but she was still fatigued and the spark behind her eyes hadn't returned to its full capacity. Henry didn't like the idea of her driving back to school in her own car but she insisted that since she was in a better place than she had been when she had driven down on Wednesday, she would be fine driving back herself today. They arrived early in the afternoon and Elizabeth wanted to go to her dorm to get a few things and apologize to Norah for going MIA.

Norah threw her arms around her friend when she walked into the dorm room. "Lizzy, oh my god, it's so good to see you."

Elizabeth smiled and hugged her friend back. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

Norah pulled back and held Elizabeth at arm's length, examining her. "Don't apologize, thankfully your boyfriend kept me updated. Are you all right?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "Getting there."

Norah smiled, "Well good, can we have lunch tomorrow since I'm sure you're just switching out your underwear so you can head over to Henry's?"

Elizabeth blushed and laughed, a genuine laugh. "You are correct and of course we can have lunch tomorrow."

Elizabeth started putting together a bag for the week and the minute she was distracted digging through her closet, Norah turned around and surprised Henry by throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you so much for taking care of her. You're a really good person Henry McCord and she's lucky to have you." She whispered in his ear.

She pulled back before Elizabeth saw and Henry smiled at her and whispered back, "I'm lucky to have her, too."

Norah grinned, "Yes you are."

Once Elizabeth had her bag ready Henry did her one better and grabbed her overflowing laundry basket. "Honestly, where do all your clothes even come from?" He joked as they walked to his car. "I honestly don't understand how they all fit in that tiny closet and dresser."

Elizabeth just laughed and shrugged, "I think it only works because at any given moment half of them are in the laundry basket."

They picked up food and went back to Henry's apartment to get started on their laundry, dumping it in a pile in the middle of Henry's living room so they could sort and eat. As they talked and sorted Henry casually watched Elizabeth as she ate and was happy when he saw that she had finished her dumplings and was reaching over to steal one of his. He normally would have teased her about it or jokingly tackled her to the ground but he chose to just let her steal it without so much as a word.

A little while later she went in for another and after taking one bite she acknowledged the oddity. "Okay, what is going on with you? When have you ever given up a dumpling without a fight?"

Henry looked up at her, mouth open with a blank stare; he honestly didn't know how to respond.

She sighed, "Please just treat me like normal?"

He could tell she meant it, almost needed it, by the sullen expression on her face. He paused for a moment to put his chopsticks down and then lunged for her, tackling her gently into a pile of underwear.

She couldn't stop laughing as she hastily shoved the rest of the dumpling in her mouth. Henry grabbed the chopsticks out of her hand and tossed them onto her plate, "I can't believe you would steal two of my dumplings. How will I exact my revenge?"

"Um, well, I'm lying in a pile of your dirty, gross underwear so I think that counts." She giggled.

Henry laughed, "Hey, some of this is your underwear. And how disgusting do you think I am, Miss Adams?"

"It's dirty underwear!" She exclaimed, she didn't really think she had to explain that further.

"I think my mouth has literally been on every part of your body. I've literally licked powdered sugar and maple syrup off you but lying in a pile of my underwear is where you draw the line?"

She giggled, "Well, you know, its _boy_ underwear so I just assume…" She trailed off, she was giggling like a high school girl and Henry was more than amused.

A wicked grin crossed his face when he realized what she meant. He pushed his pelvis into hers and said, "Baby, I haven't done that anywhere but inside you since our first time."

Elizabeth blushed a shade of crimson and Henry felt the familiar pull in his stomach knowing he could elicit such a response from her. He leaned down and placed hot, wet kisses along her collarbone as his hand trailed down her chest and into the athletic shorts she was wearing.

She moaned when his hand grazed her through her underwear. He could already feel the moisture through the fabric and he felt his own pants get tighter. "I think you have a pair to add to the pile," he teased, making her erupt in laughter. Something about this was so gross and funny and turning her on all at the same time.

He kissed his way down her body and pulled her shorts and panties off in one quick motion before he went for her tank top, tugging it off her body and tossing it to the side. He pressed his body into hers and she tugged at his shirt and moaned, he was far too clothed.

Slowly Henry's clothing came off and she relished in the feeling of the heat from their bodies that seemed to be the only thing that could warm her to her core anymore. She wrapped her legs and arms around his body, holding him tightly to her as she moved. She couldn't bear to not touch him. Everything was slow and steady, building up in a familiar but still exciting rhythm. She hoped it would be like this forever. She hoped it would be him forever.

When they both finished Henry rolled them so that she was the one on top of him. She propped her head up and reached out to pat down his hair that she had destroyed. "Hey, we found a way to make laundry fun."

Henry laughed, "We're clearly the best couple ever."

He reached up to cup his hand around her head and pulled her to him, pressing a heated kiss to her lips. When he pulled back for air he looked straight into her eyes, "I love you, okay? All the time, no matter what, I know that your life hasn't exactly been filled with constants but I don't ever want you to be afraid that I won't be here. I will always be here. Always."

Elizabeth felt her eyes start to water and she leaned in to kiss him again, pressing their foreheads and noses together. "I love you, Henry. Please know that how I am right now, or if this happens to me again, it's not because of you. It could never be, okay?"

Now Henry felt tears forming in his own eyes and he pulled her in for another kiss. He didn't need to respond; they both knew everything was understood.

Over the next week Henry could see that Elizabeth was slowly improving. He knew it would take time and he knew there wasn't really anything he could do but he liked to be in control and watching Elizabeth struggle was eating away at him.

He was supposed to be discussing lecture outlines with Maxwell but he couldn't focus on anything but Elizabeth.

Maxwell snapped her fingers to get his attention, "Hey, anyone home?"

He snapped out of his daydream, "I'm so sorry." He squeezed his eyes shut and ran his hands over his face in frustration.

Maxwell studied him for a moment. "You want to talk about it?"

He sighed; he knew she knew this was about Elizabeth. He had called to update her Thursday morning and explained that he wouldn't be back until Monday and told her a little bit about what was going on. When he came back to class Monday she hadn't asked for any details and didn't bring it up for the rest of the week. He was grateful for that as he needed some time to process everything himself. But now he was distracted and she deserved an explanation. He was also ready to admit that maybe he needed some help.

"Did she go to class this week?" Maxwell asked.

Henry nodded, "Yeah, she went to class, at least as far as I know, but I think Norah would have figured it out if she hadn't and then let me know. But she would go to class and then just come home and sleep. She's sleeping a lot."

"That's not abnormal. Has she been eating normally? How's her focus?"

"She um, she's not been eating normally. It's getting better and she has good moments but I keep having to remind her to eat which is not normal for her. She seems to be having trouble focusing and it's sort of like she goes into this sort of daze." He paused, "How did you know to ask that?"

She smiled at him and leaned back in her chair, "Henry, I'm a gay theologian, I know it's a huge surprise but coming to terms with that wasn't the easiest thing to do." She teased, her face smiling but her tone was serious.

Henry pursed his lips, he hadn't even thought of that. "I'm sorry."

She shrugged, "It happens. I got through it. Depression is tough to understand. For me it was this emptiness and questioning, like I had no idea what my purpose was and I couldn't focus on anything."

"I'm just…I'm at a loss for what to do for her. What do I do?" He asked, in that moment he felt like he deflated as he finally let out the concern that had been eating away at him.

"You do the only thing you can do. You just love her. She'll get through it. Has she talked to anyone, I mean professionally?"

He shook his head, "No, I suggested she go to one of the school counselors but she wasn't keen on that idea."

"If she wants to, I'm happy to talk to her too, sometimes it's easier to talk to someone who's been there."

"Really? Are you sure?" Henry asked, surprised and moved that Maxwell would offer.

"Of course, I know coming to terms with your sexuality and losing your parents aren't the same but I do understand what her mind feels like it's doing to her body. The situations may be drastically different but I know how tough depression is to deal with and sometimes I think it's just nice to talk to someone who really gets that you're not just being sad and moody. I'd love to try to help her if I can."

"I really appreciate that, I'll tell her. Thank you."

Maxwell smiled, "Anything for my favorite student."

Late that afternoon Henry arrived back at his apartment to find Elizabeth asleep in his bed and "Rumours" playing softly on the record player. He sat down next to her and ran his hand through her hair. "Sweetheart, I brought you some food."

He shook her gently and after a couple minutes she started to wake up. She smiled when he saw him and that made his heart skip a beat. His Elizabeth was still in there, he would never doubt that.

"I brought you dumplings."

She yawned and shrugged as she curled back up into the soft pillow, "Thank you but I'm not really hungry at the moment."

He pursed his lips and ran his hand through her messy hair, "What have you eaten today?"

She squeezed her eyes shut trying to remember, "I…I don't know."

Henry knew that meant nothing. "I'm going to bring the food into bed and when you smell these dumplings I know you're going to change your mind."

He didn't wait for her to respond, he just left the bedroom to get the food. When he walked back into the bedroom she was sitting upright and he found that encouraging. He handed her a plate and a fork and climbed into bed next to her.

Elizabeth cuddled up next to him and they started a discussion about his dissertation. Elizabeth was picking at her food but she was eating so Henry was happy. She seemed like she was doing better now that they were engaged in conversation so Henry figured he didn't have much to lose in bringing up his discussion with Maxwell. "I um…I talked to Maxwell about you today. She asked how you were and I said you were still struggling. I hope that was okay?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "It's fine. You have to deal with me like this, you deserve to talk to someone about it."

Henry instinctively pulled her closer to him and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, "Elizabeth, don't talk about yourself like you're some kind of burden." He said sternly, she knew well enough not to argue with him about this. He continued, "I um, I told her I wanted you to go see one of the school counselors and you weren't too keen on that idea so she asked if maybe you wanted to talk to her? She said she dealt with depression when she was coming to terms with her sexuality and maybe you would like to talk to someone who had been through it?"

Elizabeth was very quiet and he was getting terrified that he had overstepped and was ready to start apologizing profusely when she finally spoke. "Um…okay. I wouldn't mind talking to her."

"Really?" Henry was honestly shocked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Henry, I don't like being like this. I don't _want_ to be like this. Maybe talking with someone who understands how awful this all feels will be good for me?"

He let out a breath of relief. Maybe none of this would work but at least she was willing to try, he was grateful for that.

* * *

As always, I love you for reading & please leave me some love. Thanks for taking the time to read my little story. I appreciate it so much. x J


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